Feed: OrangeTomato - AggScore: 94.6
Because I get paid to do this.....
Inspect 1600 acres that may be preserved as open space:
I get paid for this????
Inspect 1600 acres that may be preserved as open space:
I get paid for this????
Date Published: Nov 19, 2008 - 6:01 am
Ok, so I'm a hopelessly devoted doting doggy mommy, I admit it! We don't have kids, so the dog gets all the love and adoration....
Anyway...
Took Jean Luck to the new dog park on Saturday, and oddly we were the only ones there. Hmm, strange, Sat morning and where are the dogs? We walk over and step inside, and just as I realize I'm sinking up to my ankles in ooky goopy squisky stickly mud, Jean Luc is inside and bounding around in the tacky stuff and having the time of his life. No! Well, that explains the empty park...meanwhile I'm wracking my brain - do I have towels in the car? Anything to keep my seats clean? Oh no!
Accepting the miserable reality and knowing it can't get much worse (my shoes are full, he's covered), I glop around for another 20 minutes, playing ball when he has the attention for it and letting him do his sniff-pee-sniff thing everywhere the rest of the time. Luckily, I realize that I've got an airline blanket (one of those thin little blue things) in the car to protect 1/2 the seats, and....dun dun dun....a convenient doggie bed that is always on the backseat that our friend Mike made! Phew.
Stuffed him in the car, drove home, left him in the car while I went inside and ran a shallow bath, then went back to the car and CARRIED him inside, up the stairs, and plopped him in the tub. Poor thing - he was hating life - but was hysterical afterward! So happy, shaking water everywhere, running around the house, rubbing on the carpet and walls, at least he wasn't muddy anymore! And now he's super soft and smells nice, sans mud.
I didn't have my camera so couldn't take pics of him cavorting in the mud, but I did get some shots at home of the bath and the aftermath.
Here's the muddy bath water:
Anyway...
Took Jean Luck to the new dog park on Saturday, and oddly we were the only ones there. Hmm, strange, Sat morning and where are the dogs? We walk over and step inside, and just as I realize I'm sinking up to my ankles in ooky goopy squisky stickly mud, Jean Luc is inside and bounding around in the tacky stuff and having the time of his life. No! Well, that explains the empty park...meanwhile I'm wracking my brain - do I have towels in the car? Anything to keep my seats clean? Oh no!
Accepting the miserable reality and knowing it can't get much worse (my shoes are full, he's covered), I glop around for another 20 minutes, playing ball when he has the attention for it and letting him do his sniff-pee-sniff thing everywhere the rest of the time. Luckily, I realize that I've got an airline blanket (one of those thin little blue things) in the car to protect 1/2 the seats, and....dun dun dun....a convenient doggie bed that is always on the backseat that our friend Mike made! Phew.
Stuffed him in the car, drove home, left him in the car while I went inside and ran a shallow bath, then went back to the car and CARRIED him inside, up the stairs, and plopped him in the tub. Poor thing - he was hating life - but was hysterical afterward! So happy, shaking water everywhere, running around the house, rubbing on the carpet and walls, at least he wasn't muddy anymore! And now he's super soft and smells nice, sans mud.
I didn't have my camera so couldn't take pics of him cavorting in the mud, but I did get some shots at home of the bath and the aftermath.
Here's the muddy bath water:
Date Published: Nov 13, 2008 - 6:45 am
is a wonderful thing. Tuesday was Veteran's Day, and while I got the day off from work I didn't get it off from training, skeleton, and school.
Started the day at 5:00am, muttering to myself all the while "It's a holiday...I should be sleeping in...who get's up at 5am on a holiday...you're a sucker for punishment..." and so on. Then I:
Started the day at 5:00am, muttering to myself all the while "It's a holiday...I should be sleeping in...who get's up at 5am on a holiday...you're a sucker for punishment..." and so on. Then I:
- Drove down to Salt Lake (1/2 hour drive) and had a brutal weight workout
- Went straight to the U library, on wobbly legs, to research a term paper for 2 hours
- Drove back to Park City
- Tried to make french toast for breakfast, and found that all our eggs were bad (blech)
- Went to the store to buy eggs and milk
- Came home, cooked french toast from 7 grain bread and cinnamon (delicious, if you do wonder)
- Went to the track, slid for 2 hours
- Went home, changed
- Drove BACK to Salt Lake for class, did a group presentation
- Drove BACK to Park City, and got home at 6pm
I walked in the door, asked Brad what time it was, and if I could go to bed......long story short, he made me stay awake for another 2 hours so I wouldn't wake up at 10pm and be miserable all night (smart man), and I struggled to stay awake while he cooked me dinner (such a sweet guy, eh?) and we watched an episode of Mythbusters (the best show ever).
And then I couldn't take it anymore, it was late enough that I might sleep through the night, so I crawled into bed. At 8:15pm. And proceeded to read for a bit and fall into a deep sleep. At 8:45pm. And this girl slept straight through until 6am, to start it all over again. Amazing! What a wonderful feeling that was. And that's all. G'night!
Date Published: Nov 12, 2008 - 9:32 pm
Warning: these are politically oriented articles, so if you are tired of all the politics, move along and don't read them. But I would recommend the first at least!
If you want to be inspired, read the one about Colin Powell (it's the NY Times one, and so may require that you sign up to read it, but it's free and totally worth it). His quotes are amazing and spot on and moving, especially the one about how whether Obama is or isn't Muslim shouldn't be the question, but the question should be why does it matter? In our country, we're theoretically taught tolerance and acceptance; in grade school we learn about the Statue of Liberty and the melting pot that is the USA and about the civil rights movement and all that. Yet somehow our country grows ever and ever more intolerant.
NY Times opinion article about Powell's endorsement of Obama
______________________________________________________________
This article is a little (er, I mean, lot) less moving and just a bit humorous, and yes, I know it's a blog so not very reliable, but I laughed. If you are a fan of Palin and McCain, sorry, but I'm from Alaska and feel ok in poking some fun:
LA Times blog about Palin's wardrobe
If you want to be inspired, read the one about Colin Powell (it's the NY Times one, and so may require that you sign up to read it, but it's free and totally worth it). His quotes are amazing and spot on and moving, especially the one about how whether Obama is or isn't Muslim shouldn't be the question, but the question should be why does it matter? In our country, we're theoretically taught tolerance and acceptance; in grade school we learn about the Statue of Liberty and the melting pot that is the USA and about the civil rights movement and all that. Yet somehow our country grows ever and ever more intolerant.
NY Times opinion article about Powell's endorsement of Obama
______________________________________________________________
This article is a little (er, I mean, lot) less moving and just a bit humorous, and yes, I know it's a blog so not very reliable, but I laughed. If you are a fan of Palin and McCain, sorry, but I'm from Alaska and feel ok in poking some fun:
LA Times blog about Palin's wardrobe
Date Published: Nov 03, 2008 - 10:54 am
Being in the top 12 in the US for the last year (and now for the next year) I've been on the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) "out of competition" testing list. This means that anytime, anyplace, a USADA officer can come find me and demand that I pee in a cup to be tested for performance enhancing drugs. And once they find me, they can't allow me out of sight, and even, um, have to watch the test. Um, kinda, awkward?
It's a great idea, since even the taint of doping can hurt a sport, however, in practice it's a royal pain in the butt! We have to file a quarterly report with our schedules, and if something changes for ONE DAY (i.e. I stay home sick, or am out of town, or skip a workout) we have to update them with that information.
I made an oopsie on that in September - remember the bike race that got postponed for rain? Well, first, I had a different bike race listed on my quarterly schedule (Brian Head NMBS) and with my wrists healing up decided at the last minute to do the milder Sundance Go-Ride race instead. First mistake: I forgot to update them of the change. Second mistake: when the race got postponed to Saturday, I forgot to update them too! Bad Kimber...
So, that Saturday, when I was racing at Sundance, a Doping Control Officer (DCO) showed up at the gym looking for me. Of course, I wasn't there, but Brad was there and told the DCO where I was. Then, the DCO called me and left a message, and a few minutes later I got the message and called him back, offering to meet him anywhere, but he said he was closing the test!
A month later, I got a letter from USADA saying I had a "missed-test/unavailable" for the quarter - which is terrible, since 3 missed tests in 18 months automatically triggers a positive test, and you're banned from the sport for 2 years! The letter also gave me until October 17th to submit a written explanation for review and appeal.
Fortunately, I spend my job interpreting and reading legal codes, so I went through the USADA handbook, and discovered that the DCO hadn't followed procedures. Basically, he had only looked for me at two locations on one morning, but the rules required him to try ALL of my listed locations for a 24 hour period! Phew. So I wrote up my appeal letter and sent it in, and this week received a certified letter stating that the incident wouldn't be considered a missed test! What a relief!
In summary, I've learned a valuable lesson and have been sending in updates several times a week just to make sure I don't get another missed test. I really can't complain about being on the list, since it's only a small part of the population that is lucky enough to be ranked high enough, no?
It's a great idea, since even the taint of doping can hurt a sport, however, in practice it's a royal pain in the butt! We have to file a quarterly report with our schedules, and if something changes for ONE DAY (i.e. I stay home sick, or am out of town, or skip a workout) we have to update them with that information.
I made an oopsie on that in September - remember the bike race that got postponed for rain? Well, first, I had a different bike race listed on my quarterly schedule (Brian Head NMBS) and with my wrists healing up decided at the last minute to do the milder Sundance Go-Ride race instead. First mistake: I forgot to update them of the change. Second mistake: when the race got postponed to Saturday, I forgot to update them too! Bad Kimber...
So, that Saturday, when I was racing at Sundance, a Doping Control Officer (DCO) showed up at the gym looking for me. Of course, I wasn't there, but Brad was there and told the DCO where I was. Then, the DCO called me and left a message, and a few minutes later I got the message and called him back, offering to meet him anywhere, but he said he was closing the test!
A month later, I got a letter from USADA saying I had a "missed-test/unavailable" for the quarter - which is terrible, since 3 missed tests in 18 months automatically triggers a positive test, and you're banned from the sport for 2 years! The letter also gave me until October 17th to submit a written explanation for review and appeal.
Fortunately, I spend my job interpreting and reading legal codes, so I went through the USADA handbook, and discovered that the DCO hadn't followed procedures. Basically, he had only looked for me at two locations on one morning, but the rules required him to try ALL of my listed locations for a 24 hour period! Phew. So I wrote up my appeal letter and sent it in, and this week received a certified letter stating that the incident wouldn't be considered a missed test! What a relief!
In summary, I've learned a valuable lesson and have been sending in updates several times a week just to make sure I don't get another missed test. I really can't complain about being on the list, since it's only a small part of the population that is lucky enough to be ranked high enough, no?
Date Published: Nov 02, 2008 - 6:17 pm
So my good friend recently posted this article on the Downhill-Diva website. Pretty exciting! Thanks Lis for the props...and Brad was happy about the "taken" comment.
In the article is a link to this article on Fanhouse*, from an interview I gave at the Team Trials races last weekend. Also very exciting exposure.
*Disclaimer, I never said anything about making the 2010 Olympics (it's handily out of reach) but was quasi-hopeful for 2014 if I keep improving, so the author made the 2010 statement herself. Otherwise, it's pretty cool!
In the article is a link to this article on Fanhouse*, from an interview I gave at the Team Trials races last weekend. Also very exciting exposure.
*Disclaimer, I never said anything about making the 2010 Olympics (it's handily out of reach) but was quasi-hopeful for 2014 if I keep improving, so the author made the 2010 statement herself. Otherwise, it's pretty cool!
Date Published: Oct 31, 2008 - 7:48 pm
So two of my coworkers were having a deep and very important conversation this afternoon, about affordable housing. I had just had a difficult meeting about the topic at work, and was decompressing with my coworkers. Incidentally, I had also just relaxed by eating a couple reese's peanut butter cups. Making a comment about the chocolate, the conversation followed like this:
Coworker A: "Ahhhhh, the little ones?"
Me: "No way, the full size originals."
A: "I've always liked the little ones better."
Me: "No, I prefer the bigger ones."
Coworker J: "Me too, I've always liked the big ones better."
A, to me: "Why is that KG?"
Me: "Better ratio."
A: "But the little onces have a better ratio, more chocolate than peanut butter.
Me: I know, the big ones have a better ratio of of peanut butter to chocolate. Mmmmm, peanut butter goodness."
J: "Wait, I think there's more peanut butter in the little ones, that's why I like the big ones."
Me: "No, there can't be. There's more edge on the little ones, and more of the thin flat on the big ones. It's kinda like brownies - the edge pieces and the middle pieces."
A chuckle from the hallway.....we look up.
Client: "Wow, you guys are really busy, aren't you?"
Aack! Such a Seinfield moment!
But really, what do you think? Is there a higher ratio of chocolate to peanut butter in the little ones, and higher ratio of peanut butter to chocolate in the bigger ones? Or is it vice versa?
Coworker A: "Ahhhhh, the little ones?"
Me: "No way, the full size originals."
A: "I've always liked the little ones better."
Me: "No, I prefer the bigger ones."
Coworker J: "Me too, I've always liked the big ones better."
A, to me: "Why is that KG?"
Me: "Better ratio."
A: "But the little onces have a better ratio, more chocolate than peanut butter.
Me: I know, the big ones have a better ratio of of peanut butter to chocolate. Mmmmm, peanut butter goodness."
J: "Wait, I think there's more peanut butter in the little ones, that's why I like the big ones."
Me: "No, there can't be. There's more edge on the little ones, and more of the thin flat on the big ones. It's kinda like brownies - the edge pieces and the middle pieces."
A chuckle from the hallway.....we look up.
Client: "Wow, you guys are really busy, aren't you?"
Aack! Such a Seinfield moment!
But really, what do you think? Is there a higher ratio of chocolate to peanut butter in the little ones, and higher ratio of peanut butter to chocolate in the bigger ones? Or is it vice versa?
Date Published: Oct 31, 2008 - 3:40 pm
Quick note: Brad is going to be racing in the Calgary America's Cup next week, hurrah! With the US needing to accumulate nation points, and thus giving the top people extra races, we weren't sure that Brad would be able to get any races. But, he did! I'm now wishing I could go to that race to hang out with him and Cassie and Annie and the others, but having missed 2 weeks of school already this semester, I just can't race until Christmas break in December.
Anyway, he may end up with another race or two, but we won't know that until the middle of the season. I'm super excited for him, since Calgary is such a fun track!
Anyway, he may end up with another race or two, but we won't know that until the middle of the season. I'm super excited for him, since Calgary is such a fun track!
Date Published: Oct 30, 2008 - 10:29 pm
Just got an image of the timesheet from race 4, and decided to post it for proof I can slide and push well, since I'm unjustifiably nervous that the abilities will just desert me now that Trials is over and will never believe these results.
I still can't believe I finished in fourth!
I still can't believe I finished in fourth!
Date Published: Oct 29, 2008 - 7:26 am
We all met up for dinner with Russ C., a great and ever cheerful guy who's been our biggest supporter all week, showing up to the training and races and cheering us on. It means a lot!
The group at Redrock:
The group at Redrock:
Date Published: Oct 28, 2008 - 7:22 pm
After the race, we sat around for a couple hours while the coaches did the math, added up points, broke ties with speedpoints, and figured out the final ranks. Then one by one were called upstairs to select our races. We raced at 5pm, finished at 7:00, and finally left at...dun dun dun...10pm!
Afterwards, we were all too tired to go out so we congregated at the townhouse most of the team was renting. Good bonding and relaxing times ensued.
Chilling out around the table, with lots of non-athlete appropriate food such as cupcakes, brownies, chips and dip, frosty beverages, and so on:
Afterwards, we were all too tired to go out so we congregated at the townhouse most of the team was renting. Good bonding and relaxing times ensued.
Chilling out around the table, with lots of non-athlete appropriate food such as cupcakes, brownies, chips and dip, frosty beverages, and so on:
Date Published: Oct 27, 2008 - 10:49 am
Yep, as of now I'm "USA #7" which means I'm ranked 7th in the US!
I'm pretty excited - and even more exciting is how that came to be. Remember how excited I was after the first Park City race, where I finished 6th? And pushed a 5.19? Well.....
Yesterday, in the second Park City race (race 4 of Team Trials), I came out 4th! And pushed a 5.17!!! I sent Tim (our strength coach) a text message telling him I needed to kiss him, grin. And did a lot more screaming and jumping around...
Now, keep in mind that my 4th and 6th and 8th place finishes (which were my best 3 of 4 races) don't include Katie U, aka USA #1....She foreran for all our races but didn't race since she is automatically on the World Cup team due to her great 2007-2008 season. So, in reality, if she were included my finishes would really have been 5th, 7th, and 9th. When all the math was done, and everyone dropped their worst finishes, I ended up in 7th overall, including Katie U.! So exciting!
Now the fun stuff, the pictures!
Prepping for my first run (notice my lovely Velo Bella jacket, PERFECT for wearing to the start line which is one of the reasons I got it):
How it all shakes out:
RACES
When it came down to selecting races, I wasn't very prepared since I hadn't expected to do so well, and had just been hoping that two specific Europa Cup (EC) races would be available as scraps for me to take...instead I actually had to turn down a handful of races, ouch. The Calgary and Lake Placid America's Cup (AC) races are in the next 3 weeks, and I've already missed so much school that I couldn't take them, and the Winterberg and Altenberg EC races are the last 2 weeks of school and finals, so I had to opt out of them too.
BUT - I am going to Igls, Austria for the EC there, which is during Christmas break and thus perfect. The Konigsee, Germany EC was taken by some ICC girls for extra points, which is sad since that race is also during Christmas break, but it worked out ok since, instead, I'm doing the St. Moritz, Switzerland EC, which is everyone's FAVORITE track!
Hopefully I'll also be in the Cesana, Italy EC. YAY! I'm on the list of potentials for the second Lake Placid AC in April next year too, which they are keeping open for now in case some of the top women need more points to help the USA's international standing.
POINTS
Really, the US is playing a points game, which they have to do under the current international / olympic system. Basically, each athlete received a world ranking from the points earned at each race. Each series had different point values, with World Cup having the highest per-race-per-rank points, and the EC and AC having the least. The number of sliders that a nation gets to enter into World Championships every year, and the number of sliders that a nation gets to enter into the Olympics, is determined by the number of sliders in the top world ranks. So, that's why ICC sliders get to take some EC races (like Konigsee) and why the World Cup and some ICC women are filling up the Park City AC (which is next week), Calgary AC, and Lake Placid AC, which all occur before the World Cup season starts.
Sorry, long and boring but pretty crucial for understanding how the races are shaking out like they are.
FUTURE
From here on out, it will be really difficult for me to move up, since the top 6 women have been sliding for years and are all so close to each other that no one was sure how the World Cup would shake out this year! Granted, I beat several of them to take my 4th yesterday, but I'll need to be consistent and have consistent improvement! Am I up for the challenge? You bet!
I'm pretty excited - and even more exciting is how that came to be. Remember how excited I was after the first Park City race, where I finished 6th? And pushed a 5.19? Well.....
Yesterday, in the second Park City race (race 4 of Team Trials), I came out 4th! And pushed a 5.17!!! I sent Tim (our strength coach) a text message telling him I needed to kiss him, grin. And did a lot more screaming and jumping around...
Now, keep in mind that my 4th and 6th and 8th place finishes (which were my best 3 of 4 races) don't include Katie U, aka USA #1....She foreran for all our races but didn't race since she is automatically on the World Cup team due to her great 2007-2008 season. So, in reality, if she were included my finishes would really have been 5th, 7th, and 9th. When all the math was done, and everyone dropped their worst finishes, I ended up in 7th overall, including Katie U.! So exciting!
Now the fun stuff, the pictures!
Prepping for my first run (notice my lovely Velo Bella jacket, PERFECT for wearing to the start line which is one of the reasons I got it):
How it all shakes out:
- The top 3 women from Trials are the World Cup team.
- The next 3 women are the Intercontinental Cup (aka World Cup B) team.
- The next 4 women are the National Development Team.
RACES
When it came down to selecting races, I wasn't very prepared since I hadn't expected to do so well, and had just been hoping that two specific Europa Cup (EC) races would be available as scraps for me to take...instead I actually had to turn down a handful of races, ouch. The Calgary and Lake Placid America's Cup (AC) races are in the next 3 weeks, and I've already missed so much school that I couldn't take them, and the Winterberg and Altenberg EC races are the last 2 weeks of school and finals, so I had to opt out of them too.
BUT - I am going to Igls, Austria for the EC there, which is during Christmas break and thus perfect. The Konigsee, Germany EC was taken by some ICC girls for extra points, which is sad since that race is also during Christmas break, but it worked out ok since, instead, I'm doing the St. Moritz, Switzerland EC, which is everyone's FAVORITE track!
Hopefully I'll also be in the Cesana, Italy EC. YAY! I'm on the list of potentials for the second Lake Placid AC in April next year too, which they are keeping open for now in case some of the top women need more points to help the USA's international standing.
POINTS
Really, the US is playing a points game, which they have to do under the current international / olympic system. Basically, each athlete received a world ranking from the points earned at each race. Each series had different point values, with World Cup having the highest per-race-per-rank points, and the EC and AC having the least. The number of sliders that a nation gets to enter into World Championships every year, and the number of sliders that a nation gets to enter into the Olympics, is determined by the number of sliders in the top world ranks. So, that's why ICC sliders get to take some EC races (like Konigsee) and why the World Cup and some ICC women are filling up the Park City AC (which is next week), Calgary AC, and Lake Placid AC, which all occur before the World Cup season starts.
Sorry, long and boring but pretty crucial for understanding how the races are shaking out like they are.
FUTURE
From here on out, it will be really difficult for me to move up, since the top 6 women have been sliding for years and are all so close to each other that no one was sure how the World Cup would shake out this year! Granted, I beat several of them to take my 4th yesterday, but I'll need to be consistent and have consistent improvement! Am I up for the challenge? You bet!
Date Published: Oct 26, 2008 - 10:06 am
So, race day. I was completely stoked when I got to the finish after my first run, since up on the screen was my down time: a Personal Best of 51.72 seconds, beating my previous PB of 51.88 by 16 hundredths! There was lots of yelling and jumping up and down, then over the PA they recapped my push "Kimber had a push time of 5.19, and a down time of 51.72."
Um, excuse me? 5.19? Really? NO WAY!!! More screaming and jumping ensued and the spectators and volunteers were laughing at the spectacle. Here's the proof though:
All in all an amazing day and no matter what happens in the next race tomorrow, I'm super happy.
Um, excuse me? 5.19? Really? NO WAY!!! More screaming and jumping ensued and the spectators and volunteers were laughing at the spectacle. Here's the proof though:
All in all an amazing day and no matter what happens in the next race tomorrow, I'm super happy.
Date Published: Oct 24, 2008 - 9:14 pm
Finally, after training hard all summer and, frankly, wondering if it would pay off, my third run tonight saw me pushing into the 20s for the first time: 5.29! I jumped up and down and screamed in the parking lot when I saw the timesheet:
Tomorrow is the first race in Park City, which will be the third of the four Team Trials races, so wish me luck!
Tomorrow is the first race in Park City, which will be the third of the four Team Trials races, so wish me luck!
Date Published: Oct 23, 2008 - 10:11 pm
It was 17 degrees (Fahrenheit) this morning when I drove to work. And that's all.
Date Published: Oct 22, 2008 - 9:52 am