Month: March 2011

My carbon monoxide detector went off today immediately after I put down a load of laundry fresh from the dryer under it. I may have bumped it, I’m not sure. Anyways, the reset button had no effect, unplugging it from the wall just switched it to battery power, and opening the windows for a breeze and waving it in the air also didn’t do a thing. Without the ability to reset it (as in have it stop whining so I know it’s testing instead of just being stuck on) I have no way of determining if it’s malfunctioning.

Carbon monoxide (according to wikipedia) is produced by burning stuff when there’s not enough oxygen, and since I haven’t smelled anything burning (carbon monoxide itself is odorless) I’m figuring the only sources of combustion in my apartment are the heater and the hot water heater (my stove and oven are both electric). I’m not counting the grilled cheese sandwich that I charred while distracted by the carbon monoxide detector. I turned off the air conditioner when I opened the windows (though I suppose it has a pilot flame, but I haven’t touched the hot water heater.

Considering the alarm has been going for a few hours now and the only thing that’s wrong with me is a vaguely upset stomach (a combination of being worried that something’s actually wrong and the fact that I ate the burnt sandwich (first I’ve bothered to make in months and the last slice of cheese I had, I wasn’t about to pass it up)) instead of a headache(the first expected symptom) I suspect it’s malfunctioning, but I’ll still sleep with the windows open tonight. I have had the suspicion that I have a headache, but I’m blaming that on constantly wondering if I’m getting one since my head doesn’t actually hurt. More importantly, Talore isn’t behaving oddly though she’s decidedly more playful, probably because I’ve been moving around the apartment instead of sitting at my computer, and since she’s rather smaller than I am I’d expect her to be affected first. On the other hand, she should be fine anyways since carbon monoxide is supposed to be lighter than air and on the floor (where she is) there’s a layer of cooler air from having the windows open. That coolness could also be a reason for her to be more playful and active, she’s responded like that before.

Since I was unable to get the sound to stop and Talore hid under the bed after it had been going for a few minutes I wrapped the detector in blankets to muffle it. The sound doesn’t carry very well (I could hear it from the other room, but it wasn’t obnoxiously loud from there), so two blankets rolled up around it contain it well enough that I have to be close and listening for it to tell if it’s still going. Of course that means there’s no airflow on it which probably isn’t helping it stop, but I don’t think having a loud, high-pitched buzzer going at 11 at night would be appreciated, especially since I have the windows open. I’ll do something about it tomorrow during the day.

It’s spring break, time to go skiing. Well actually, the fact that spring break is occurring had nothing to do with the trip, save for the fact that lift tickets were (I assume) more expensive and there were a lot of people around (it wasn’t too crowded today but I suspect tomorrow will be considering the line of people renting when I returned my stuff). I don’t know what prompted the trip to Breckenridge, but I certainly appreciate Ryan for inviting me along (so I didn’t have to drive or go alone, the primary reasons I haven’t done more snowboarding).

Today was the best day of snowboarding that I’ve had (not that there have been many, I think this makes 6), largely thanks to Ryan and Scott (one of Ryan’s friends) waiting up for me occasionally and challenging me (by leaving me behind), but also because I finally feel confident enough in general to make turns and such without slowing down first. The fact that my stomach was somewhat unsettled for most of the day was annoying but I wasn’t going to let that prevent me from having a good time.

It was a somewhat warm day to start with, but the wind on the lifts was cold enough that a jacket was still required. Or in my case: the risk of falling and sliding meant that I wasn’t about to take off my jacket, though unzipping it part way was comfortable at times. After we left the peak 8 base it did feel chillier, though that was probably thanks to being less in the sun or later in the day, depending on where we were.

Breckenridge was where we skied in January, so I knew my way around peaks 7 and 8 reasonably well. That said, I wasn’t quick enough to realize which lift we were going up on the first run and ended up stuck on a catwalk because I was unstable on the slope before it flattened out and slowed down. That’s still an improvement over how I did that run in January when I never managed to get to the catwalk without falling and having to unstrap one foot to push myself along.

It only took me a couple runs to get back in the groove to the point that I could s-curve my way down the mountain smoothly, and if Scott and Ryan weren’t just pointing downhill and going (basically whenever they were trying jump or to cut through the trees) I could sometimes keep them in sight. The main problem I still have is runs sloped severely off to the right for a long ways, where I’m on my toe edge and generally don’t feel comfortable enough to do s-curves, so I end up just drifting down slowly. Well, that and I don’t do great at high speeds or well at all on really steep spots, so I don’t try anything harder than blues. I also refuse to try moguls, but I don’t view that as a problem.

I didn’t manage to fall spectacularly this time, or rather I managed not to, though that’s not to say I didn’t fall. There were plenty of spots where it was a bit icy or otherwise unfavorable where I fell flat and slid, the worst spot being on a blue at the top of peak 9 where I went to avoid a skier that had fallen and discovered why he’d fallen. I didn’t hit him, but I felt like I came closer than I wanted to. My worst fall was from trying to turn on a blue on peak 7 where it was a steep slope and I slipped and pretty much slid to the bottom of the steep part before I could get up.

Besides getting my own equipment (boots, snowboard, and helmet), which isn’t likely to happen, what would have been most helpful would have been a camelbak or something like it so I don’t have to dig my water bottle out so often. That would also free up a convenient pocket on the inside of my jacket for something, though I don’t know what I’d put there except my goggles or gloves while I’m off the slope. I also need to remember to get sunscreen. Ryan shared his today (though I think I still managed to get my chin sunburnt), but as far as I can tell there isn’t a bottle anywhere in my apartment.

There’s probably more to tell, but I was up before 6 and spent the day being far more active than usual so I’m exhausted. Perhaps I’ll add to this post tomorrow.