Sore Forearms

Yesterday evening, my niece told me, “I hope you stretch before each time you play the game.” She was, of course, talking about Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, a game to which I instantly got addicted since arriving three days ago and have played numerously since then. And, of course, I didn’t stretch before each game and this Monday morning, I’m feeling the aches and pains associated with rockin’ out to a fake guitar for three days running. The plus side: I kick ass on the game. Well, to be exact, I kick as on the “easy” setting of the game. As of last night, however, I’ve graduated to the “medium” level. My nieces are both playing at “medium” and “hard” levels and basically put me to shame whenever we’re playing together. To be fair, they’ve had this game for a year now and, when you’re a kid, you have more time to get good at video games than your run-of-the-mill adult. They have the game on their Wii, but it’s also available via desktop PC or Mac, PlayStation3 and Xbox360. Hmm, it appears this trying-to-hold-on-to-his-youth adult will be making an unnecessary purchase some time soon. As for my sore forearms? That’s what ActivOn is for. Apply directly where it hurts.

The Watchtower and Metro-Fi

I’m sitting outside a cafe (*cough* Starbucks *cough*) at Pioneer Square. Some kind of event is happening downtown today, so there are canopies and booths and whatnot strewn across the amphitheater. A live band is playing. They’re singing worship rock and sound pretty good. Anyway, Pioneer Square is one of the hotspots for MetroFi, downtown’s free wireless Internet access. I tried to access it, and it made me download “MSN SiteGuide” before I could access the free service. Ordinarily, I would scoff at yet another attempt by Bill Gates to insist that his shit is the shit, and say, “Ah, forget it!” and walk away. But, alas, I desperately needed to get online right then because I was in a blogging mood, so I allowed his viral software to enter my trusted laptop. As I’m sitting there surfing the web after downloading the damn application, a man in a gray suit came up to me and asked, “Do you want to read some good news?” I replied positively and he handed me a leaflet entitled “The Watchtower: Announcing JeHoVaH’s Kingdom” with a subtitle “A Meaningful Life Is Possible.” The man didn’t look like a Jehovah’s Witness, that’s for sure. I imagined them traipsing around in orange robes handing out daisies. Wait, I think those are Hare Krishnas.

I’m a Clueless Shopper

I went shopping for some gifts for my nieces today and proved to myself– and those fortunate enough to have been privy to my self-imposed epiphany– that I am a moron. I decided to purchase my brother’s daughters some clothing to give them as gifts when I come to visit them in a couple of days. So, when I got to the store, I realize that I don’t know their actual garment sizes but have a general idea of what clothing may fit them. At the children’s section of the store, I was elated to see some racks labeled “Girls 7-14″ and was immediately drawn to them. I mean, it couldn’t have been more perfect. A sales clerk came up me to and inquired if I needed assistance. I said, smugly, “Nope, got it covered. I thought I would need help to find clothing for my 12-year-old and 9-year-old nieces because I wasn’t sure about their sizes. Thank goodness you label your clothes by age range.” The sales clerk smiled/smirked and said, “Actually, sir, that sign is for the size of the clothes. You know, as in sizes seven through fourteen?” I blanked out for a moment and pretended to recover, “Oh, of course, I knew that.” But I soon acquiesced and accepted her help. Did I feel stupid? You betcha. Will that ever happen to me again. No siree, bob! Next time, the nieces are getting books.

Stage Reading Actor? Check.

I can officially add “actor” to my résumé now that I’d participated in a stage reading last Thursday to an intimate audience. Okay, so there wasn’t actual acting involved but the cast still had to exude the appropriate emotions and some gesticulation in order to make the characters each was portraying come alive. I was the Narrator and set the stage for each scene while dutifully conveying “action sequences” that cannot, by stage reading guidelines, be acted out by the participants. I also vocalized the “sound effects” like, among others, the door bell, coyote howl, cricket chirping, and cellular phone “ring tones.” (Several members of the audience approached me at the end of the reading, expressing their delight and amusement that I chose “U Can’t Touch This” as the ring tone for one phone, and “Sexy Back” for the other.)

The three-act play was penned by two playwrights/screenwriters who also happen to be employees at the company I work for. The director is a co-worker of mine and brought legitimate guidance and insight to the project from years of experience in her own theatre production companies in New York and Oregon. The cast was a menagerie of employees at the company, most of whom had varying degrees of theatre work in the past or are still actively involved in it. The writers hope to mount a full production of their play by August of this year, and have already approached me for my possible involvement.

I told them to keep in touch. We’ll see where this one goes.

Expressing Disappointment vs. Getting Angry

In my past life, I was in the hotel industry and, therefore, “customer service” became second nature to me. It also taught me to be very empathetic to service professionals whenever I am on the receiving end of things. When something doesn’t go quite right during a service transaction in which I was the recipient, I don’t get as angry as I used to get before being exposed to the hotel industry. After all, 99% of the time, the service professional didn’t intentionally screw something up. I mean, nobody goes to work thinking to himself/herself, “Today, I’m going to fuck everything up and piss everyone off.” Instead I would express my disappointment in a calm manner while making very clear to whoever is receiving my complaint the nature of my disappointment. Yelling at the service giver, which I used to do, rarely yields the desired results.

On Tuesday this week, I picked up a voicemail from my client as soon as I came into work that morning. Apparently, an arrangement that I’d made with the account executive at the hotel she was staying at had not come to fruition. I needed to take immediate action but, because of the time of day, the account executive that I dealt with was not in yet. So, I called the hotel and asked for the Manager on Duty (MOD) instead. Having been an MOD multiple times in my hotel career, I know what it’s like for my presence to be requested by a customer, and it was rarely due to something positive. The MOD came on the phone and I calmly informed her of what had happened and asked for her assistance in rectifying the situation. Predictably, due to the respectful manner in which I expressed my disappointment to her, I sensed that she was more willing to assist me than if I’d been one of those customers who simply yelled at her and demanded something be done. And, just like that, I had a solution for my client and immediate assuagement from the account executive.

I worked with Front Desk Agents in the past who were more likely to compensate yelling guests versus those who calmly expressed a concern to them. I would constantly guide them into addressing complaints based on the severity and nature of the breakdown rather than how loudly the customer yelled. Thankfully, many agreed with me. Others, however, continue to give in to some sort of Pavlovian conditioning to inject a higher level of seriousness to the issues expressed by the highly emotional customer over those expressed by the calm and collected ones.

In my current line of work, I often get praised by clients for my “patience” and my being “incredibly calm under pressure.” I guess that I have my experience in the hotel industry to thank for these traits.

Third Ski Day: Solitude

On Wednesday morning, my buddy K. and I returned to Solitude for a full day of skiing. We couldn’t have asked for better weather as we traversed one killer blue run after another. Of course, we did have to start with a green run just to get my bearings. But the remainder of the day was filled with easy-to-very difficult blue runs.

The Sunshine Bowl was the bane of my existence, causing me to tumble on more than one occasion, but I made it down that tricky slope three times before the day was done. I’m so glad I let my buddy talk me into a third day of skiing; I was hesitant to ski on the day prior to my departure. It turned out to be a day filled with memories I won’t soon forget!

Snow Shoeing for First Time!

Snow-shoeing today was awesome and very hard work. My buddy and I hiked just a little over a mile, and it felt like I’d just run five miles. The snow at Guardsman Pass was nearly untouched by the time we arrived at around noon. We trudged through almost two feet of powder with each step. The scenery, as can be expected, was breathtaking. I could’ve easily allowed my aching right knee to sideline me today, making it the reason to stay indoors and immobile. I’m so glad that I decided to go ahead with the snow shoe trip, because the view and the experience made it all the more worthwhile. On Wednesday, I take to the slopes one final time on my SLC ski trip. It’s forecast to be clear and in the upper forties on the mountain. I can’t wait! Cheers!

Park City Skiing: Awesome!

My friends and I went skiing on Monday at Park City, and I had an awesome time. Since this was my second day skiing in Utah, I allowed my friends to talk me into doing more blues than greens. There was a particularly fun blue called Payday that we went down on several times. But, the higher up the mountain you go up, the blues– and even some of the greens– got pretty tricky. On one particular blue, I spilled three times, but lost my skis only once. A green run called Home Run traversed nearly the entire length of the mountain, and we took that once all the way down. It was a fun run but very long, that we had to stop several times to catch our breaths.

The views from the top were breathtaking. That was, when the weather cooperated. In contrast with Solitude on Saturday, Park City was overcast and had some snow storms pass through. We knew this, of course, coming into the day since we were aware of the weather forecast. Whereas in Solitude the ride up the lifts were serene, beautiful, and sunny, the rides up the lifts in Park City were bundled up, snow in your face, and freezing cold, especially the higher up we got up the mountain.

We did ten runs from 10am to 3pm, with a brief stop for lunch mid-mountain. Although the weather was not stellar, which made for depth perception issues, Monday’s Park City skiing was the best I’ve had to date. We haven’t decided which resort to ski on Wednesday, but I can’t wait! Cheers!

Utah Ski Trip: 3-Day Report

After a fun night of drinking, games, and drinking games on Friday, I woke up at around 630am on Saturday to the sounds of a very active baby. My buddy “K” and his wife “J” were tending to their 10-month-old boy, “A.” I joined them in the kitchen and had some tea. J. had baked some blueberry muffins that morning, and the smell of it was welcoming. We chatted for a while, wondering when by buddy “T” and his girlfriend “H” were going to emerge from the guest bedroom. The slopes opened at 9am and we wanted to get there before then. When 8am rolled around, and T. and H. were still unstirred, we decided to knock on their door violently to wake them up. By 845am we were out of the house and on our way to Solitude.

The ride up the canyon was picturesque. Clouds hung above the Wasatch and we wondered if we would have an overcast day on the mountain. When we arrived at Solitude, we were blessed with bright sunshine. We quickly maneuvered our way to the base and planned out our runs. With this being my first time skiing in nearly a decade, I knew I needed to get my bearings first. We all hopped on the lift that took us to Easy Street, an easy slope designed for ski and snowboard training, as well as a haven for the little kids. Surrounded by tykes, I made my way down Easy Street a couple of times before the group decided to hit the more serious greens.

It wasn’t like riding a bike, but I soon found my balance and was skiing comfortably. Before lunch, the group decided to take me to a couple of blues. I was at once horrified and excited at the prospect of traversing a more difficult slope. With some effort, and by taking my time down a particularly tricky downgrade, I made it down my first couple of blues without any incidents. After lunch, we hit a couple more blues and blue-greens. My legs had started to give in that I lost my skis a couple of times on some tight turns.

Feeling exhausted while satisfied with the runs that I’d done, I decided to not accompany the group on the last run, which allowed them to tackle the more difficult blues. We left Solitude at 3pm, having put in a great day of skiing. We hit the hot tub at K. and J.’s house, and it was a very welcome end to our active day. Then, K. and J. served us a veritable feast for dinner, enjoyed with yet more of K.’s home brew, and we topped off the evening with several rounds of pekwa (a Filipino card game).

On Sunday morning, K. took me, T. and H. up to Park City after a brief stop at the Olympics Museum. T. and H. are staying at a resort in Park City on that night. The picture below is the view from their window.

It’s probably not evident, but at least a foot of snow fell in Park City on Sunday afternoon, with more forecast overnight. Tomorrow, when we hit the slopes, there is 80% chance of snow. I’ve never skied while it’s snowing so it will be another new experience for me. The group plotted out the runs we’ll be making on Monday morning, while enjoying some amazing wine and a few more rounds of pekwa, before heading out to dinner.

Dinner was at this amazing restaurant called Riverhorse located along Main Street in Park City. To say the food was amazing would almost be an understatement. Everyone in our group had very positive things to say about the appetizers, his/her entree, and the desserts. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone dining in Park City.

Time to hit the sack. Another big day of skiing tomorrow. Cheers!

How Well-Rounded Are You?

I came upon this list of forty questions from a fellow blogger, who got it from another fellow blogger, who may have gotten it from yet another fellow blogger. I truly don’t know how far back this perverse derivative of Chinese Whispers goes, but I’m hoping the private detective I hired will provide me some answers soon. Meanwhile, I took the time to answer them to determine how well-rounded I am:

1. Been to a play: Yes, several.

2. Bungee jumped or something similar: Not yet, but it’s on my list of Ten Things To Do Before I Die. It may very well be the cause of my death, though. Shiver.

3. Been a mentor/big brother/big sister: Similar. I taught a 5th grade class Introduction to Economics as part of Junior Achievement.

4. Read at least one of the classics (War and Peace, The Great Gatsby, The Red Badge of Courage, Beowulf, Crime and Punishment, etc): I don’t know if they’re considered “the classics” but I’ve read “Catcher in the Rye,” “The Dubliners,” and “Travels with Charley.”

5. Stood up for someone publicly: Yes, mostly in work situations.

6. Been on a major roller coaster: Only one at Disneyland. I’m terrified of roller coasters and generally avoid them like the plague. And, this is why.

7. Been to a drive-in movie: Nope. Too ethnic for it, I guess.

8. Done something at a drive-in movie other than watch the movie: See question #7.

9. Done volunteer work: Yes, through Rotary Club. Presently, I also volunteer my time at an historical independent movie theatre.

10. Given a toast at a wedding, a eulogy at a funeral, or some similar, meaningful speech: Yes, at a buddy’s wedding, where I was the Best Man.

11. Been to a major sports playoff game: Not any playoff games, unfortunately, but I’ve had the pleasure of watching live NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB games.

12. Thrown a costume or theme party: Yes, through work.

13. Been on or near the set of a major motion picture: Yes, in P-Town, while they were filming The Hunted.

14. Taken a compliment well: I think I generally do with a simple “Thank you.”

15. Planted a tree: I kill plants.

16. Been stung by a jellyfish or something similar in/near the ocean: Yes, by a jellyfish when I was about 8 or 9.

17. Quit a crappy job: Yes, walked away from the hotel industry after many, many years.

18. Been on a blind date: Yes, she’s still undergoing therapy.

19. Done something kind and unexpected for a stranger: Yes, if you consider volunteer work.

20. Had a major surgery: Only one. It as a rite of passage. Blush.

21. Taken a car/truck road trip that covered at least 6 states: Took a train from Vancouver, B.C. to Montreal (Quebec) when I was 11; took Amtrak from Oregon to Illinois in my teens.

22. Been in 4 or more countries: Yes, including my homeland and the U.S., I’ve also been to China, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.

23. Spent New Year’s Eve somewhere special: Everywhere I’ve spent NYE have been special and have been with people with special needs.

24. Visited an ancient landmark: I’m not sure if it’s classified as “ancient landmark,” but I visited the Daibutsu in Kamakura (Japan). That was surreal.

25. Been face to face with a celebrity by chance: Yes, I bumped into Fran Healy, lead singer of the band Travis, while working at a hotel. Totally unexpected encounter. I didn’t even realize who he was until he began to speak. Saw their concert in P-Town that night. But, I’ve had plenty of celebrity encounters during my hotel life that were not by chance. My most favorite people: Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze, Jr. — very, very grounded despite their celebrity.

26. Given to charity in the past two years: Yes.

27. Helped a stray animal: Not yet, but I totally break for squirrels.

28. Dated someone you met online: No, but I’m open to it.

29. Won money on a long shot: Not yet. Sigh.

30. Won your office/family/friends NCAA tournament pool: I don’t bet on sports teams anymore. Admitting you have a problem is the first step.

31. Won an award/medal (even if something “small”): I was honored as Employee of the Year for one of the companies I worked for. I had disdainful looks from some of the contenders for a few months after that.

33. Been in the front row for a concert: Nearly front row at a Tool concert once.

34. Attended a symphony orchestra performance: Not yet, but I would welcome the opportunity.

35. Caught a criminal in the act and did something about it (reported it, smacked them in the head, etc): I normally don’t hang around my relatives, so, no.

36. Sung solo on a stage: Yes, at a mini concert for a charity. I was one of the performers.

37. Witnessed something supernatural: I think so, see previous post.

38. Covered for someone (who deserved it) at work: Yes.

39. Overcome a major fear: Yes, public speaking. I was thrust into a role in high school that necessitated public speaking, and, through that experience, I was able to slowly overcome that fear. I still get some stage fright these days, but I’m able to shake the jitters off very quickly.

40. Mailed a surprise care package to a loved one: Does lingerie count as a care package?

Well, there you have it. I’m not really sure what the answers to these questions say about me or how it proves/disproves my neurosis, but it sure was fun!