Sliding Down The Slopes: November 2008

Friday, November 28, 2008

Wal-Mart Maddness

The family and I just returned home from a short trip to Wal Mart to do some Christmas shopping. We set out for a few specific items after the store assured us the things we were looking for were in stock. Sure enough we get there and there wasn't anything we wanted, in fact after talking to another worker he said they probably had been out of them for awhile. Good thing we called and then made a special trip out there all because some lazy, stupid, half brain dead employee could lie to us because she didn't want to take the four an a half steps to the shelf to actually open her eyes and see for herself if what we were asking was indeed there or not. I guess lying was easier.

So we let that go and looked for a few other items and had luck finding what we wanted. As we looked around the store though it really is amazing at the type of people you see there. Not that I'm trying to be mean or generalize but the Midland Wal Mart in particular was full of some pretty downright dirty and ignorant people. I'm no physical specimen of beauty and in no way am I 100% in shape but the folks we saw tonight were absolutely disgusting, out of shape, and wore filthy dirty clothes. There kids were obnoxious, untrained, and incredibly obese. Is this the future of our country? Do these people really not look in the mirror before walking out the door and realize they should at least try to clean up just a little or maybe set some ground rules with their kids so they don't piss off everyone in the store because of their screaming and yelling???

I know Wal Mart has some great deals and I know all sorts of people shop there. I have no problems with people shopping there but it just makes me think what our country is really going to be like in 20 years when the kids I saw tonight are all grown up. Just earlier this morning a Wal Mart employee was trampled to death when a crowd of 2,000 eager shoppers busted down the door and stampeded right over the man, not to mention they also knocked down a pregnant 28 year-old woman. Seriously? Is a good deal on a flat screen tv really worth another mans life? All those people should be forced to work as greeters at Wal Mart stores around the country next year on Black Friday.

Anyways, I just thought it was interesting to note what I observed tonight. I'm not one for making fun of or degrading people for their economic status or their hobbies or backgrounds but I at least think everyone should take a look at themselves before going out in public and check the image they are portraying to those around them, they might just realize they don't get any respect because they don't give any respect.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Holy Si

If you fill in the blanks those are the words that came out of my mouth about 3:40p.m. this afternoon as I was on my way to a local coffee shop.

I was driving East on a four lane road that was mildly slush covered when a westbound minivan spun out of control about 5 car lengths in front of me, did a complete 360, crossed three empty lanes, hit a curb, then a guardrail, then rolled 4-5 times down a 100 foot embankment, towards a partly frozen lake.

Had it been 30 seconds later she would have hit me instead of the guardrail.

I immediately pull over, pull my emergency break, hit my flashers and got out of the car. I ran over to the edge of the embankment and saw the car on its wheels. I ran back to my car popped the trunk and got my ski patrol pack with all my bandages and emergency care supplies. A car pulled up behind me and asked if I called 911. I said I hadn't and I took off running down the snow covered slope not knowing if I was going to have to jump into the lake to get someone out of the car or not. I was terrified as to what I was going to find. Was it a mom that had just picked up her kids from school? Did someone get ejected from the car? Were they in the lake? How badly were they hurt?

As I approached the van I could see one passenger bent over in the car. I didn't see anyone else. There was a trail of debris all the way down the hill and glass was everywhere. As I got closer I asked the lady if she was okay as I came around the smoking engine compartment of the van. She was able to get her door open and I asked her a few questions as I quickly did a once over for any major bleeding or obvious injuries. Upon my first glance I didn't find any major injuries and she didn't complain of hitting her head or hurting her neck at all. By this time she was fully out of the car. In the back of my head I was worried that she was in shock and had other injuries or possible neck injuries that could cause big problems. I was also concerned with the smoke that was coming out of the engine compartment.

I asked if she was okay to walk up the hill and I helped her get back up to the road. When she got to the top and looked back at her car she starting staring at the wreckage and uttering her disbelief. At this point a nurse and another man were next to us as I had the lady sit down in my car. I knew she was in shock and I didn't know if she had any other injuries that needed to be addressed. I got my pack out, explained that I was a member of the ski patrol and asked if it was okay to check her out further. She had no head or neck pain, no back pain, no shoulder pain, nothing in her chest or abdomen, no pain in her legs or feet. The only thing I found was a small cut on her left arm that had already stopped bleeding by the time I found it. I cleaned up the cut on her arm and wiped the blood off her hands and fingers.

One little scratch. That's it.

She was still in obvious shock so I had her sit in my car while we waited for the sheriff to show up. We kept talking to her and tried to get her calmed down. With time she did. I kept asking if she had any pain that she was starting to feel knowing that with the initial shock wearing off she might be feeling the pain now.

Nothing.

The sheriff arrived on scene after about 15 minutes and we all had to wait for him to finish his report before we could go. Once the sheriff arrived she got out of my car and started walking around and was much calmer and relaxed by this point. We were all completely amazed that she rolled her van at least four times down that hill and only had one little cut on her arm. Not to mention how close she was to that lake. Things could have been much worse than what they actually were.

After I got back in my car and started driving away is when it hit me. I started shaking and replaying the entire thing in my head. Ski patrol training does a lot as far as teaching you how to deal with the injuries, it does a great job of teaching you how to prioritize who's the most critical if there are multiple patients, and it does a pretty good job teaching you how to control your emotions when you're actually on scene. The one thing that ski patrol training tries to give you but cannot completely is that adrenaline rush feeling.

We are tested in every possible scenario and all environments but when it comes down to it, training is still training. We know when we are finished with the training exercise everyone will be okay and will go home safe and sound.

No training can give you the true feeling of working on an accident scene where you don't know if the person you are working on is going to live or die. When it comes down to it the only way you can truly understand how you are going to act as a rescuer is to learn from the experiences you have working on a scene. Everyone tells me that with time and more practice my confidence will increase and I will learn to control my own emotions so I can focus fully on the work that needs to be done. I guess all I can do tonight is be thankful that first off this lady was okay and secondly be thankful for the fact that the "test" I was given tonight looked a lot worse than it actually was.

Wow...

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Time flies

Time continues to fly during each week. Here is a recap of the last few days:

Thursday was the one year anniversary of when Erika and I "officially" started dating. Unfortunately we couldn't celebrate too much on Thursday evening because Thursday was also the night of Erika's Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC) test. There was lots of celebrating to be had later that night though as she passed her test and is now an Auxiliary Candidate for the National Ski Patrol. :) Now on to her basic snowboarding test.

Friday night we went out to The B.O.B and had a great dinner, played some pool, and went to a really funny show at Dr. Grins Comedy Club. The headliner was John Heffron, very funny. If you get a few minutes check out his web site. After the comedy club we drove over to Grandville to stop at the Chicago Drive Pub for a going away party for my old roommate. He's leaving GR and heading back to the east side of the state for a different job. We didn't stay long but it was fun to see some good friends that I haven't seen in awhile.

Saturday we got up at 6:30a.m. so Erika could be to the mall by 8:00 for a work meeting. I drove her to the mall because we had plans to do some shopping after her meeting. So I wasted two hours walking around the mall and cruising around 28th street. I even stopped in at the Verizon store and played with the new blackberry storm. I have to admit it's pretty sweet but I think the iphone is still better. Around 10:00a.m. I made my way back to the mall to do a little shopping. We spent about 45 minutes there before going to MC sports for their big ski and snowboard sale. We found some good deals there and headed down the road to Gazelle Sports to look for some boots for Erika and ski pants for me.

After our shopping was all finished up we heading home, grabbed a quick lunch, and put on our winter gear. Then we drove out to Grand Valley to watch GVSU kill Ashland in football. Last time Ashland came to GVSU they gave us a pretty good run for our money, this time however wasn't the same. We froze our butts off until the end of the 3rd quarter and then came home to watch GV finish up the 40-7 win. We spent the rest of Saturday evening trying to warm up and just relax after a busy day.

Sunday we slept in a little bit, had breakfast, and then went out to GVSU to play racquetball. We had a good time and I didn't get hit in the face by the ball...always a plus. We came home and cleaned up the apartment, grilled some chicken and asparagus, and then headed back out to MC Sports for their friends and family sale. We found some more great deals and got more shopping done. Other than one sister and Erika I have all my XMAS shopping done...way earlier than usual. Then we came home and watched the Guardian on TNT.

All in all I had a great weekend and I'm looking forward to another busy week. Senior Ski Patrol classes tomorrow, two thanksgiving dinners on Thursday, one on Friday, and then resting back in Midland for a few days with Porter, the new puppy, and my family.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Some things to think about

Today's post comes from a daily email list serve I'm on. I'm not going to say who the author is as it might turn some people off from actually reading and thinking about what is listed below. With the difficult situations our country is facing right now here are some good things to think about:

FIND YOUR VOICE
You are your own voice. Others may be silenced. Who will lead if your guy 'who speaks for you' is gone?

FIND YOURSELF
Who are you really? What do you believe? Have you been pushed and challenged? Do you know where you stand? Can you support it with real facts?

FIND YOUR WEAKNESS
Don’t ignore your weakness. Make your weakness into your strength.

FIND YOUR VALUES
Make it your focus, work at them. Values don’t just ‘happen’ they are developed. A house divided against cannot stand. Be the same person at home, at work, in public and private.

FIND YOUR LOVE
Too much hate has been planted. Uproot it, pull it out and replace it with goodwill for those of different faiths, political party or viewpoints.

FIND YOUR FELLOW AMERICANS
Connect and encourage those who put Constitution and service to God first. Help them wake others.

FIND YOUR JOY
It will not come from places that Americans are encouraged to find it. True joy won’t be found in stores, sex or power. You will need to know where your unlimited supply can be found. Look to your family. Look at selfless service. But you have to find it for yourself.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

The Shot(s) Heard Around Michigan

November 15

To many this date doesn't mean anything but to thousands of hunters in Michigan this date marks the beginning of two weeks of drinking, eating, sleeping in the woods, and shooting deer. That's right November 15 is the opening day of Firearm Deer Season.

This was clearly obvious as I left work at 12:00 Friday afternoon to drive to a meeting in Traverse City. Every other truck that passed me on the highway doing 90 mph had a "Buckmasters" sticker happily stuck in the back window. Hurrying passengers dawned their camouflage clothing accented with the required blaze orange. The "orange army" as it's often called was out in full force on their way to take over parts of northern michigan in search of their trophy deer.

I'm not anti hunting, in fact I would love to go try it sometime if someone would take me out and teach me the ropes. But it is pretty funny how into this some people get. Many rural school districts even cancel classes on opening day because so few kids would show up anyways. Some hunters plan for this two weeks all year long and of course they all live by the slogan, "If it's brown, it's down."

I can't bash hunters too much though because I get really excited about opening day too. Not opening day of firearm dear season but opening day of ski season. We're getting closer and closer now. Winter temps are forecasted through the week and parts of Allegan county are getting the first measurable snow fall of the season. Last night I put the ski and snowboard rack on my car and can say I'm fully ready to begin my "winter challenge" of skiing everyday and hopefully logging at least 200 miles on my cross country skis. All I need now is more snow.

This will be another busy week with Senior Ski Patrol class on Monday, Erika's Outdoor Emergency Care test on Thursday, and celebrating our 1-year anniversary together. :) More on that later in the week.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Heading North

In just a few hours I'll be making a quick trip up to Traverse City. I haven't been up there in a long time and I'm itching to get up there again. I don't know what it is but if I'm away from TC for more than three weeks I go crazy. I definitely need to find a job up there.

Today I'm heading up for a meeting at the ski hill. Someone I got suckered into re-writing the Chair Lift Evacuation Policy for Mt. Holiday Ski area. I've been doing some reading and some research of other ski areas around the state and have a pretty good handle on how we can improve our evacuation policies and procedures. At an older area with aging lifts it's important that we are up to-date on our policies incase we ever had to do a complete real life chair evacuation. All in all it actually has been interesting learning about the proper techniques and procedures for this difficult and potentially very dangerous task.

At my meeting today I will be meeting with the new Executive Director at Mt. Holiday, a job I would love to have, the head of the maintenance department, and the Patrol Director. I'm excited to see what we can come up with and I hope they are impressed by my work ethic on this. After working in the nonprofit industry for three years I think I've found my calling. I would really love the opportunity to combine two things I love, skiing and nonprofit work.

Mt. Holiday is to my understanding one of only four nonprofit ski areas in the country. This might sound strange to have a ski area as a nonprofit but Mt. Holiday was established as a place that will provide year round recreational activities for residents of northern michigan. They also have many great scholarship programs available to teach at risk kids how to ski and snowboard. To me it is way more than just a ski area because of all the memories and friends I have made there over the years. Someday they will get enough money and hire me as their communications director. :) I hope anyways!

Learn more about Mt. Holiday by visiting their web site. (Another project I'd like to help them update) If you're ever in Traverse City on the weekends this winter stop into the Patrol Room and say hi.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Winter Challenge

Winter is almost here and that means one thing to me...SKIING. Those of you that really know me know that I love skiing and I love winter. Every year since I was in the 5th grade I have spent my weekends downhill skiing with my dad up in Traverse City. I've spent hours and hours riding up the chair lift and skiing down our little michigan "mountains." This year will be no exception.

I've been hanging around a guy named Marathon Don for the last two years. Don is an adventure guru. Don doesn't believe in resting. You've all heard that you should have a list of 100 things you'd like to do before you die, well Don actually has this list. He's physically spent the time to type it out on his computer, I've seen it. Not only does he have this list but he actively checks things off the list. I'm pretty sure for each thing he checks off he ends up adding about 5 more.

Well after you hang around a guy long enough who has ran more than 175 marathons, climbed a bunch of mountains, and done about 1,000,000 other really cool things you start getting "Adventure Ideas." While I have to admit I still don't have my list of 100 things to do before I die, I did come up with something I'm going to challenge myself to this winter. (Maybe I'll work on the list and make it a blog posting in the days to come)

My challenge: To spend every day of winter with skis on my feet.

It might not sound like much but here is what I want to do in detail:

Everyday that it is possible to ski, meaning there is enough snow on the ground to cross country ski or there is snow at a downhill resort that is open, I want to ski for at least 30 minutes. I want to track my mileage on my cross country skis and try to ski at least 200 miles this season. The skiing everyday isn't going to be that difficult because I already downhill ski every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. So Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I need to make time to get in at least 30 minutes of XC skiing. Obviously if I'm going to try and XC ski 200 miles in the season I'm going to have to add in a few XC trips on the weekends as well.

Ultimately I would like to find a way to cross country ski a marathon. (26.2 miles) I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to train and be ready for that this winter and I still have to work out some logistics, but I think it might be possible. I don't really know why I've set this challenge for myself but I figured what the heck lets try it and see. If I accomplish my goal then it will be a building block for me to set and accomplish future goals. Not to mention it will also be damn good exercise... something I need to be getting more of.

I've got everything I need to make this a successful challenge. For the first time in my life I actually bought brand new downhill skis. I spent good money and bought a top of the line ski because I spend so much time on them I might as well bet getting the best possible performance out of them. I also just used my ski patrol discounts to purchase a brand new Yakima Roof rack for my car so it will be easier than ever to transport all my gear with me where ever I go. I'm getting really excited and I can't wait for more snow to be on the ground.

With any luck we'll be skiing by Thanksgiving and I can start on my 200 mile journey...I'll keep you posted.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Shawn's Headstone

I debated about sharing this on my blog because I'm sure some people might find it weird, but after a little consideration I realize this is my blog, a spot for me to share my thoughts and emotions.

My sister sent me a picture message earlier this afternoon. This is what it was:

A fitting tribute to a man who loved the game of football and worked so hard to earn the title of "Coach". A loyal U of M fan and devoted coach. Devoted to his wife, his players, and the game of football. It's hard to believe it has already been 11 weeks since Shawn passed away. Over this time everyone in my family has experience every possible range of emotion. It seems like there are days where you come to grips with what happened and you almost feel like you start to have an understanding of why he was taken from us. Then in just a few seconds that can all change and you are sitting there thinking it's a bad dream.

When I was in college I was required to take a theme. Themes were groups of three classes centered around a topic of the students choosing, the ideas was so everyone experienced something they normally wouldn't have had the opportunity to. For some strange and odd reason I chose the Death & Dying theme. The required classes for were the Physiological Aspects of Death and Dying, Biomedical Ethics, and Death & Dying from a Cultural Perspective (Or something like that). Anyways, all three classes were very different and I actually found them to be the most interesting classes I took during my career at GVSU. In the first class we talked about what happens to the body when you are dying, during the funeral, and then after burial. It was very interesting and had some amazing field trips as well, but I'll spare the details. The second class was all about how various cultures deal with grief and how they handle the whole funeral process. EVERYONE deals with death differently and there is no wrong way or right way to grieve.

After taking these classes I felt I had a much better understanding of the whole life & death process and I really thought I had a better grasp on how to handle my own feelings and emotions during the death of a loved one. Shortly after finishing those classes my grandmother passed away, and while it was sad, I also felt a little relief because I know she had lived a good life and was not enjoying what was left of her time on earth. Physically it was difficult to let her go knowing full well you would never see her again, but mentally I felt more prepared knowing with time I could celebrate her life & cherish the memories of her.

Fast forward to Monday August 18th, 2008. I get the phone call that my brother-in-law is in the hospital possibly having symptoms of a stroke or heart attack. Not more than 10 minutes later, a second phone call that said, "Matt, Shawn Died." 10 minutes was all it took for my families' life to be turned upside down. The emotions of shock, grief, anger, and frustration rushed into my body as I tried to comprehend what I just heard. The next few days and weeks went by so fast yet so agonizingly slow. I tried to use what I had learned from class to get me through the funeral and through the visitation strong and healthy. It was tough but all in all I thought I felt pretty good. As time went on I returned to my life. I was back to work in GR, back into my busy routine, and moving on trying to remember the good times I had with Shawn.

However the emotions I felt this time around were different. Way different. It wasn't go to the funeral, go to the dinner and share funny stories, and then go home and move on with your life. Life went on but it was different. There was a different way you looked at life. Suddenly little things seemed more important and you realize that taking care of yourself and those you love is something that should become a priority, not an option.

I still have a hard times, we all do. It's difficult when you really sit down and think about what happened. When you realize your sister lost the one person she's been in love with for the last 12 years of her life. It's hard when you see how strong she is trying to be and how focused she is on moving forward despite the hell she's gone through not just loosing her husband, but also loosing her baby. I tear up now more than I used to and I've come to realize that it's okay. It's okay to share your emotions with the ones you love and it's okay to express your emotions when you are alone as well.

I had no idea I would ever be faced with this hardship, nor did I ever think I'd see one of my family members tested in this way. I'm a believer in the saying, "Everything happens for a reason." It's difficult to say why this happened or where this experience will lead us, but I know all we can do is sit back and go for a ride and hope that one day all of our questions will be answered.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

A few more Pics

Well I had a big blog idea planned for tonight but didn't get around to it in time. It's getting late and tomorrow is one of my long days so I'm going to cut this short. Here are a few pics from the weekend visit back home to Midland. Porter and I went home to visit with the family, celebrate my sister's birthday, and see the new puppy.

Meet Bo (Sorry for the fuzzy photo):

Porter Loves Bo:

These two had a great time playing together:

That's all for tonight. Erika is challenging me to write more so I'll try to get to that tomorrow. My sister is doing 30 posts in 30 days in her blog...maybe I will get inspired.

Sliding Down The Slopes

Blog Archive

About Me

My Blog List