The Off Topic Topic

[Razgovory]

You know I find face book very depressing.  Several people I knew have become white supremacists, a girl I had crush on in middle school has kid by two different guys, I have family members I barely know post pictures of their dogs and shit.  At least some of them took my advice and not to post possibly incriminating photos when the FBI is looking at you.

[alfred russel]

And I say this as a man who has lived in the Alps of the US east of the Mississippi. 

Okay, but bear in mind there is nothing comparable to the Alps east of the Mississippi. This is like telling someone visiting Dallas not to check out a Dallas Cowboys NFL game because you have been to the biggest high school games in Maine and found them boring.

[Josquius]

I tried skiing once in japan. Didn't see the appeal. Setup costs are too large and the appeal too small to try out snowboarding.
In ski season however
1: the train to and from work is always full. Harder to get a seat. Sometimes I get particularly unlucky and there's a school group there.
2: the weekends are very boring.  More so than usual. So many people go skiing so they don't do anything I might enjoy or even just hang out.

Set up costs?  You can rent everything you need.

Not in Switzerland.
You can rent a snowboard/skis but you have to buy your own goofy  clothes.
I'm not about to spend 500 euros on some stuff that is only useful for one particular activity that I've never even tried and am not too enthusiastic about.

[Admiral Yi]

On the upside chicks' asses do look good in those ski bunny outfits.

[garbon]

I thought you had pills that made you happy? 

I have a lot of pills that make garbon happy.  But I won't deny that certain tablets and capsules of contentment have passed my lips over the years.

Ahem. Pills never made me happy, they just made me not sad. I had to bridge the gap between number and happiness myself.

[Malthus]

I tried skiing once in japan. Didn't see the appeal. Setup costs are too large and the appeal too small to try out snowboarding.
In ski season however
1: the train to and from work is always full. Harder to get a seat. Sometimes I get particularly unlucky and there's a school group there.
2: the weekends are very boring.  More so than usual. So many people go skiing so they don't do anything I might enjoy or even just hang out.

Set up costs?  You can rent everything you need.

Tyr, my overall outlook on life is about as rosy as yours and CDM's blended then strained through a pulped copy of Being And Time.  That said, I try to keep up the good cheer here on Languish. 

But skiing?  Skiing is a goddamned racket.  And I say this as a man who has lived in the Alps of the US east of the Mississippi.  Rent some overpriced jalopy equipment, pay an unbelievable sum of money for a weird sticker that wraps around a big paper clip attached to your coat, wait on line strapped into your goofy apparatus freezing your balls off until it's finally your turn to sit on a carousel ride being dangled in the air.  Then you're at the top of the "Black Diamond" or whatever, and you careen your way down, hoping desperately you don't become one of the many many many winter-sports enthusiasts upon whom certain orthopedists depend, what with a torn ACL here, a broken tibula there, a dislocated shoulder here, even a sprained thumb over there.

I prefer cross-country skiing myself. I do that every weekend in the winter. It is something you can do with your kids and friends as a group, it doesn't require waiting in lines at all, it lacks the roller-coaster drama of downhill but it has its moments - it is more like jogging or bicycling, in that part of the fun is enjoying the scenery as you go by, but it is more fun than either of those.

If you want, you can do it in parks and pay nothing if you have your own skis; or you can go on groomed trails, for a fee (a lot cheaper fee than downhill!).

[Grey Fox]

I only skied once, in Jasper. I liked it but it is an expensive hobby. Especially here, back east, where the mountains are really just hills. I'm thinking of picking it up as a sports with my kids, as sitting in an Arena doesn't appeal to me at all.


@Tyr, you should try it even if it's expensive. Real mountains are super fun to go down, you'll meet people that have interest in something else than drinking. Plus, you can afford it, you cheap bastard.

[celedhring]

I used to ski when I was a kid/teen, but never caught on the hobby once I grew up. Didn't like that you had to plan an entire holiday around it. I guess it would be different if I didn't live by the sea.

[alfred russel]

Not in Switzerland.
You can rent a snowboard/skis but you have to buy your own goofy  clothes.
I'm not about to spend 500 euros on some stuff that is only useful for one particular activity that I've never even tried and am not too enthusiastic about.

You can use the clothes for other things. Just don't buy all specialized skiing stuff. A warm pair of waterproof gloves, a waterproof jacket, and waterproof pants have uses beyond skiing. A warm hat and sunglasses have other uses. You can use a balaclava to rob a bank.

[Grey Fox]

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/on/news-nouvelles/2016/16-02-29-kitchener-eng.htm

One of my former co-worked is being accused of selling controlled goods to China.

It doesn't come as a surprise.

[The Brain]

You know I find face book very depressing.  Several people I knew have become white supremacists, a girl I had crush on in middle school has kid by two different guys, I have family members I barely know post pictures of their dogs and shit.  At least some of them took my advice and not to post possibly incriminating photos when the FBI is looking at you.

How does that work?

[Razgovory]

Insufficient serotonin production.

[Liep]

I just too a 3 hour nap. It was good.

[Capetan Mihali]

I thought you had pills that made you happy? 

I have a lot of pills that make garbon happy.  But I won't deny that certain tablets and capsules of contentment have passed my lips over the years.

Ahem. Pills never made me happy, they just made me not sad. I had to bridge the gap between number and happiness myself.

I meant happy in the financial sense.    Though the pills are one and the same...

[Capetan Mihali]

I used to ski when I was a kid/teen, but never caught on the hobby once I grew up. Didn't like that you had to plan an entire holiday around it. I guess it would be different if I didn't live by the sea.

Yeah, hard to give up water-skiing once you master your first synchronized trick.