my friend matthew

I thought y'all would get a kick outta this one.

I woke up so early today. Arg.

Oh yeah... This is your last time to see me with my Amish comb-over so take a good look!

This weekend has been wonderful. I've been hanging out with Nyssa a lot. That girl can really shed sunlight on any situation. Nyssa, Will and I went to the Christmas parade last night. It was really nice to see so much of Visalia there. Even though it was crowded and uncomfortable, it's kind of nice to know that so many people had enough spirit to show up. I can feel Christmas coming. I can't deny it, I've always been a sucker for the holidays. I love everything about them. I love the Christmas music, the lights, the weather, the skiing, Mom's baked goods... Everything. I think I'm gonna go to Border's today and look for a Frank Sinatra, Christmas album. Yipee guys! Things are looking very up.

We went up to Three Rivers yesterday to bury Symmi. I'm going to make him a headstone and everything. He was pretty important to me. I think this weekend should cheer me up though. I have work on Saturday but not until 6 so I might try to jam up to the hill for a half day or so. Then possibly again on Sunday.

I just got done posting about yesterday when I stand up and turn around and see Symmi all balled up in the corner of the cage. Symmi's dead. I really liked him too. He'd run in his wheel and keep me up at night and bite my finger whenever I tried to pick him up. These were the things about Symmi that I loved. I miss him so much already. Sadness looms once again.

Saturday went very well. I had a lot of fun with my buddy Nyssa. The weather up at the Summit sucked but the snow condition was awesome and the ride up and back was just as fun so it made for a worthwhile trip. Things are looking up lately.

I have a feeling that tomorrow is going to be freakin' awesome!!!

So what do I find out after I drive home a day early from our family's Thanksgiving? That they changed my hours at Sport Chalet. Instead of working today, tomorrow and the next day, I'm working none at all. They could at least have the heart to call me and tell me that they changed them instead of ruining my vacation and plans for the weekend. I could at least have been skiing today. Goooooooodness!

I gotta go to work in 7 hours. I dunno if I'm gonna be able to wake up in time. Oh goodness. sometimes, I think it would just be better to stay up 'till I have to leave. I set my alarm for 7AM so that'll be about 6 hours of sleep if I can get to sleep right away. Well, wish me luck.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Today went well. I went to go see the Sponge Bob Square Pants movie with my buddies. It was sooooooo good to see it... Oh and Nyssa's teaching me how to knit but I still haven't done my homework, but don't tell her, it's a secret.

Oh, and instead of that 160cm UnInc, I traded it to my boss for the 158. I also asked this lady at Burton if I could have the Fusions instead of the Missions. She said cool so I'm ready to go. Like REALLY ready.

Today ended up going well. I'm really excited about tomorrow... maybe.

I'm sick of feeling so sad all the time. I need something that will bring me happiness. I don't care what anyone says, I need to get away from all the negativity. I'm going to do what I need to do to shine some light on my life. I know that's selfish but I need to take care of myself too.

I'm sick of feeling so sad all the time. I need something that will bring me happiness. I don't care what anyone says, I need to get away from all the negativity. I'm going to do what I need to do to shine some light on my life. I know that's selfish but I need to take care of myself too.

Have you ever noticed the amazing affect of a few nice words on a gloomy day? I just went from lonely grump mode to, "I can't stop smiling." It's amazing what a pleasant conversation can do for your mood.

Arg. Will broke his collar bone and can't go riding. I still need to go to the hill man! I need a partner that will go every weekend and holiday. They don't have to be awesome, just someone who needs snowboarding as much as I do.

I got my boards in today! I can't wait to take them up to the hill! YAY!!!

So do I look Amish yet or what? Seriously tell me when I do because that's when I can shave this nonsense off. It's starting to get in the way. My pimp gave it to me straight, "Yo' johns ain't diggin' that sh*t no mo'!!!"

Stuff that I really wish I could afford from Burton:

Dreaming about snowboarding with my buddies...

I flaked on my old boyscout troop tonight. I don't know what happened. My econ group strikes again. They gave me all the components to our paper today, and guess when it's due... today. So that was my priority. I feel really bad about it because I was supposed to be there for all the new young scouts and pretty much babysit them while all the new parents got a tour of the troop. I dunno what happened but I know that it must have been stressful. I think I'm gonna write my scoutmaster a letter of appology. I'm a jerk.

One can only take so much stress. Sometimes you gotta do stuff for yourself, and if other people can't understand that, @#$% 'em!

So Halo 2 rocks butt! We had a fat system link at this guy Justin's house. 4 XboXes. The game was sorta hard to get used and gave me a different feel but I'm totally used to it now and love it! Thank you God for Halo.

In less than 5 hours, all the boys will disappear from the face of the Earth. When will they come back? I dunno, it's not time to ask that question. What's more important is the question of where the boys went... Check it out.

My job at Sport Chalet just keeps getting better with every day. Today we've begun training in ski and snowboard tuning and repair. We can pretty much fix anything wrong with a board or skis unless you snap one in half or something. We have the coolest Wintersteiger tuning and repair gear. I'm gonna be qualified to do things to skis that no one else in Visalia will ever even atempt. When we're done with a full tune job, we'll be able to return a ski or board to %95+ it's factory quality. This is what I've always dreamed of and now it's reality.

We have this edger in the shop:

And this automatic wax machine:

And this grinder/tuner/base finisher:

So bring your boards into me guys, I'll set em straight. Give 'em my special tune up. I'm gonna find the perfect grind. Then I'll do it for all the people that are nice to me about servicing their skiis. LOL, seriously, this store's gonna rock.

If you're upset about something, you should express your feelings. Don't let others try to pressure you into feeling guilty about getting upset. God gave us those emotions for a reason. Use them accordingly.

Made some cool friends tonight. Working at SC should end up being really fun.

Sometimes in life we have to choose what's best for us. Will and I were offered to go to the Sacramento Ski and Snowboard Show with this snowboard company over Thanksgiving weekend. On the other hand, Sport Chalet doesn't want to let us go because it's going to be a really busy weekend for rentals and the ski department. It was tough but I had to call the owner of the company and tell him we couldn't go. It was seriously so stressful making that decision. I know I'll make some harder ones later in life but geese, if I get this tripped up over little decisions like this, how strong of a person am I really? Anyway, yeah I'm working at the new Sport Chalet over by the new Target. It seriously seems like it will be a fun job too. I'll probably be working in rentals a lot so I hope to meet some people, especially local riders. Visalia's not a bad location but it's definitely not the prime ski town around here. I hope I see a lot of riders and get to know a lot of people so we can make connections and hopefully see them on the mountain or plan trips with them. We also get pro deals from a lot of our companies. I really hope I get to meet a Burton rep and possibly get some deals from him/her. I heard that some of the pro deals you can get on decks, bindings, and boots are crazy. Like I could probably get the new Custom X (Which is $800) for around $400. I'm just excited about working there and the funny thing is it's not even about the money.

Boring day. I beat Halo on easy in like 4 hours. I'm soooo bored. I need a buddy who stays home as much as I do.

HaHAAAAH!!! We won! Don't get me wrong, Kerry's a good guy but Edwards, geese! Last night he was on TV saying, don't worry, we're gonna count every last one of Ohio's votes and WIN!! He's so gay. I hope Kerry slapped him for that one.
What a waste of money! The Kerry campaign was so expensive compared to Bush's. Gosh I feel like it was more of a waste than like cutting down the trees in the rainforests. If you're gonna go crazy with your campaign, you should at least make sure you're gonna win. I wanna tell him that too. "You stuck up rich retards, do you realize how much money you just blew on stickers and posters?" MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.
Anyway, I'm glad that Bush got his four more years. I'm not saying he's smart or even the best man for the job, but I do believe in his morals and values... and I just can't stand those depressing aetheist liberal vegan punks that I see all over town. If it weren't for them, I would probably consider voting democrat.

Hey if you registered to vote and are confused like I am about where you go today then FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE HERE! If you find it and it comes down the wire, call me and I'll pick you up and give you a ride to your polling center. 559.786.0073 Everyone needs to vote today!

This is Will attempting a back flip but only achieving a sore butt.

This is Matt's buddy BigDave doing a backflip off a little jump we made.

These are pics from my weekend with Will and Matt and his friends up in Tahoe. This one is of Matt's back.

"As we grow older, snowboarding becomes our mistress."
-me