Vertical update, hair between the toes, and quinoa

Howdy again from Jackson Hole. I'm overdue for an update but that's nothing new.

Lets start with the vertical challenge update:

I talked with Pippo the other day and he is destroying the field with 25 trips to the top of biggie, a.k.a 55,000 leg ripping vert. Pippo 2.0 is getting fit

Horan skied with Jensen at Stevens pass last weekend so I'll estimate his weekend vert at 7,ooo which brings his winter total to 7,018( It's six vertical feet to the washer in the basement of 904 Monroe and I'm guessing Horan has done laundry three times this winter).

I'm trailing a bit with a winter total just shy of 26,000. I have lots of spring skiing to do in March so that number better start to grow or else I'm not going to be very fit for my 2010 comeback

Who else is climbing up mountains? Shaun? Brice and Ice?

Jackson Living Update:

The harsh reality of the recession has been a brutal wake up call. A summer of recession landscaping and doing jobs for pennies over cost and now working petty wages as a rental tech has strained my bank account. Out of necessity rather than choice I've compiled a wants and needs list.
What's out:
Booze-too expensive
Limit my Double Americano's-Drip coffee tastes almost as good and is half the price
Driving to work-Jackson has a great bus system
Prepared food- Jamie's homemade food tastes better
Eliminated almost everything I don't need to survive

What's in:
Quinoa-tastes better than rice, better for you, I'm a big fan
Bulk Food-Way cheaper, takes longer to cook but better for you and less packaging
Reusing plastic bags: We've been re-using them to pick up dog shit and as garbage bags
Not wasting any food: Hardly a morsel of edible food finds its way to the trash.

Conclusion: With a little care you can live really well on very little money. New Doug is going to live below his means. If America is ever going to get out of the hole we've dug ourselves I think everyone needs a want/needs list. More on this in a later post.

Other interesting news:

Groomer is adapting to the cold of Jackson. She is growing lots of hair between her toes/pads. I noticed she was lifting her paws a bunch and having trouble with the cold in January but now after a bunch of walks and a few trips up Teton pass her paws have gotten very furry and she no longer seems to notice the cold. Thankfully Jamie hasn't started growing hair between her toes.







If Groomer can adapt to her environment in a matter of months I can't imagine what my descendants will look like and act like a few generations from now. Are my ape like features and ancient saggital crest no longer needed in modern society? Will the proper happenings of evolution weed out my deep eye sockets? I sure hope not. Oh well, until then you're all stuck with this.....







Dale