History by the pound

A perfect gift for the person who has everything.

Ugg bit too much

The Ugg phenomenon has "jumped the shark". Not only are there Ugg-brand thongs/flip flops/jandals* in the surf shops, they are fur-lined to keep you toes toasty??
*Note my multi-lingual talents

"I think we're going to need a bigger boat"

Heading to Martha's Vineyard with a car full of Aussies keen to weigh in on the MV vs OZ coast debate.
We had to upgrade to a minivan in order to fit everyone in.

The diamond that had to be broken

They say it happens to everyone eventually, and now it has happened to me... I broke my first diamond :-( . This might be more accurately stated as "someone broke the first of my diamonds" or "Joe broke the first of my diamonds" - but whatever. To be fair it was a speciality diamond, with a large inclusion (aka hole) and it WAS important to document its "limitations".

RIP Napertree

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A Fist Full of Ties

A bunch of Calvin K's and Kenneth C's.

Hair raising

More pins than hair.

The red wire or the blue wire?

37 lead cable + blood + sweat + tears = adapter cable .... hopefully.

Pete has an owie

...but at least he still has a thumb. No more chopping onions for you buddy.

42 Overdue tasks

OMG I'm so behind

Napa-ing

Beautiful day. Beautiful scenery. Major tourist trap.

Spring MRS SFO

So much better than Boston...

An Australian in SFO

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Ski Tahoe

Spring skiing doesn't get better than the 2 foot of fresh powder at a ski-in ski-out venue.

Swiss-........

Talk about brand-identity.

New Toy

Includes a target so the X-rays know where to aim.

Ski Devil's Head, WI

Different day. Different ski field. Very different ie. excellent ski experience. The slope difficulty ratings were a little overestimated and we made it down ALL the runs including the double black diamond mogul hill.

Lesson learned this weekend: Any ski resort lacking accommodation is, by definition, not worth skiing a second day and therefore probably pretty poor overall.

Great Dane Pub

Apres ski venue: a brew pub in Madison, WI. The bison burgers with fried sweet plantains are highly recommended. The $1.50 sampler glasses are a great way to try the many many brews available. As a warning, approach the "Habanero Hellfire" wings with extreme caution (and an iron stomach).

Ski Cascade Mountain, WI

... or more accurately, wait-in-lift-queue-with-short-downhill-interludes Cascade Mountain.

Snow conditions: Fresh snow on packed ice.
Difficulty rating: Bunny-level
Popularity rating: Overpopulated