Oh A Hiking We Will Go..A Biking We Will Go

New Hampshire was absolutely awesome. I might have put my dad through the ringet a little on this one, but he was great and did everything that I wanted to do..and no complaints. Not bad for a man with a bum elbow and a bum back. We went hiking, mountain biking, swimming, walking, shopping, photo taking, and eating. I have to put eating in there as an activity, because it always is an event when we go to NH> This year we even managed to roast a whole chicken in the convection oven in the condo AND we ventured on the wild side and grilled!

My condo in September was a totally new experience for us. Normally we are in North Conway when there is snow and all we do is ski. So I have to admit that I was a tad worried that we wouldn't have enough to do. Ummm..yeah, not the case. Who knew that there were tennis courts at the condo (normally buried under snow), or a river with rope swings and kayak launches. And of course, the ski trails that double as mountain biking trails. AWESOME. Needless to say, there were very few dull moments. We certainly had our fair share of adventures. And thanks to Lucas, discovered an incredibly fun and exciting version of a seesaw that was fun for all ages. (I'm not kidding, I think I had as much fun on it as he did) I have to have one of these! really!

The week started off a bit "rocky" when somehow I managed to hit the lens button on my camera and my new Nikon Telephoto lens when shooting off my camera, bounced off of two rocks, rolled down a waterfall and fell into this...

Now, a testiment to Nikon, I dove in the water to retrieve the lens (oopss..sorry), panic stricken, only to find that there wasn't even so much as a scratch on the darn thing. I was not sure that it would work at all, but there was a tiny glimpse of hope. I cursed myself over and over for not being careful. (you see I always yell at Jay to be careful with the lens, and somehow, 1 day into the trip I send it flying). No issues what so ever on the 3 week jaunt through the rockies.. but the white mountains were the real issue. If you can believe it, we dried out the lens and it worked, no issues. I still can't believe it. Those people at Nikon know what they are doing.

Anywhooooooooooooooo, we had a few adventures in hiking when we thought we were going for a nice scenic walk and ended up doing a 5 hour vertical climb up White Horse Ledge, or a 4 hour mountain bike ride that was awesome coming down...not so much going up. Darn tree roots! The beautiful Athena Falls that might have been a better hike to do on day 2 as opposed to day 7. We even got Lisa and Lucas in on a day hike. Think we tuckered the little guy out though. And for what it is worth, I know we told him they were dog paw prints...but Lisa/Dad...we know the truth.

White Horse Ledge (yes we hiked this)

View from the top of White Horse

All in all, a great trip. Jay was even able to get a few days in once he finished classes. We played 18 holes on a beautiful course. I had the WORST day of golf ever...but also the best shot of my life. A birdie on a ledge shot on a par 4. Dropped about 6 inches from the pin while the men hit their balls into the river. Nice. Looking forward to heading back next fall.

Athena Falls

Back from the Mountains

I'm back from a fun filled week in NH and have plenty of pictures to get up on here. They, of course, will be accompanied by my witty commentary about my trip! More to come soon.

The Art of the Call Back

I don't understand how these people don't get fired? Really. If I sat at my desk and let every call go to voicemail and then made no attempt to call anyone back, I really don't think that I would have a job for very long.

Yet, for some reason, the people that I call for my job never, ever, EVER return calls. It is truly ridiculous. I don't understand. Please, someone, enlighten me. How is it possible that their managers think it is okay to not return calls? Oh wait, that is because generally, I don't receive return calls from the managers either.

Is it a sign of the times? Do we live in an era where it is now acceptable to just not return calls? When did it suddenly become ok to ignore courtesy, customer service, general respect for our friends, family, and business partners by pretending that they didn't contact us. If someone walked up to you in a room and reached out to shake your hand, would you just stand there and stare at them and not acknowledge that they had their arm outstretch? I don't think so. So please tell me why people, especially while on the job, don't feel the need to show enough respect to return a phone call.

Perhaps it is the nature of the beast; the industry that I work in; The pitfalls of Provider Relations. I just don't get it. Pick up the phone people, call me back. Wouldn't you rather talk to me on the phone for 10 minutes rather than having to listen to my annoying voice leave you the same message for the 6th time! COME ON!

Chop Chop..Or You'll be Late for School

I felt like a mom sending her kid off to 1st grade for the 1st time this morning. I spent my time this weekend split between a work retreat.(ugh) and helping Jay get organized and ready for Convocation on Monday and School on Tuesday. For those of you who don't know, Jay has made the decision to go back and get a Bachelors in Culinary Arts, Nutrition and Health. He has an undergraduate in Business, Art, and Entrepreneurship so he is able to get his degree in just two years as opposed to 4. But he is going full force, full time and the rules for Culinary are astonishing! Gee-Pers! I'm just exciting about sampleing the homework.

Ahhhh, I also have a whole new appreciation for our days on our college campus.
As we trudged around campus getting uniforms, books, packets, health forms...blah blah blah I was totally pained with such jealousy for the fact that he gets to spend his time in class (chopping things!) and then has his afternoons to play ultimate frisbee on the quad, hang out, participate in Greek Week and just, be a kid again. God I miss the freedom of college. I would give my eye teeth to get to go back right now.

That said....I was not at all jealous of the 50 million things that he has to iron (impeccably) in order for him to even attend convocation and classes everyday. Paybacks a bitch! hahaha!

Being the wonderful girlfriend that I am, I was kind enough to iron his three chef coats, 4 aprons, 3 side towels, 2 pairs of dining slacks, 2 pairs of chef pants, his hat, and his neck thingy after a very exhausting day playing Kumbaya with my coworkers.

And so a new chapter begins.
I give You...Chef Jay (Cue the Top Chef Intro Music Now)

For those of you who fell over..yes, that is what Jay looks like with short hait and absolutely no facial hair. Who Knew!

A Moral Debate

So everyday I pass by the BP gas station that is on the corner of my street. This was never my "go to" gas station, I always frequented the Hess on the other side of my neighborhood. It was usually a good 10 cents cheaper than BP and they had more pumps so it was easier in and out. I also would pass by it on my way to and from work so it really was more convenient. But I can't deny that I would occasionally stop at the BP because it was right there, full service, and the guys there were super nice and never grumpy about the fact that they knew I was only going to their station on that day because it was cold, or rainy, or snowy and I had absolutely no desire to leave me car. They always had lines backed up at their station.

Now many would say, Lesli, of course they were nice, it's their job. But come on...we all know the truth. There are plenty of people who are out working who have absolutely no desire to offer any customer service at all.

The point is, I feel terrible every time I drive by now because the station is dead. I don't think I have seen a single car there in weeks. They have all of these hand written posters and banners up that say " Locally Owned Station" because they know that many of their customers have stopped using their station becuase of the oil spill. Personally, I am right there with them. I have no desire to give my money to BP. But this certainly tugs at my heart strings a little when I know that I (along with most of thier other customers) who are head strong and have firm beliefs, are probably going to run this poor station out of business. It wasn't his fault that BP sucked. Not to mention the fact that he was a Getty until about 7 months ago. BP did a huge push to get independent stations to convert. He was one of them...and now look at him. And I can only asssume that BP is not offering any type of subsidy to the thousands of station owners just like him who may loose their entire investment.

If you were me..what would you do? Gas up because I am a sucker, or keep going back to the Hess?