mike the mountain

Those that know me, know that this facade of civility, my impeccable clothes, flawlessly coiffed hair, clean-shaven baby face… it’s all a carefully orchestrated, thinly veiled masquerade. A mask and a dance I put on for the benefit of the “general” public and their need for status quo and easily quantifiable characters. It’s really hard to hold a job when you look like a wildman from the bush, and the commute from lonely-hermit-log cabin to downtown Metropolis can be a real bitch.

That being said, the reality of who I am and what I most enjoy of this world is found far beyond city lights and pulsing traffic. I am, and always have been, passionately drawn to the great outdoors. I love to hike, to camp, to paddle and ride, slip and slide. I love to cook my food over a fire I built.

I truly believe that you see NOTHING when you’re trapped in a vehicle. Watching the forest go by the windows of your car is no more an experience than seeing a tree on TV. You’re still staying soft and comfortable, breathing false air and hearing nothing that lives, watching the world go by a square frame that may as well be a monitor. Ask anyone on a motorcycle. Try not to wince when they smile with bugs in their teeth.

I’ve always assumed that this was a part of my life that would forever be kept seperate from the other, more “civilized” aspects. Now that I’m all growed up I figured I’d just hope for maybe one trip a year, with a couple buddies if they hadn’t been broken yet, or at least pray for a child that shared my hunger (I think I’d make a good Scout Leader).

And then I found her.

HER.

The girl.

My girl.

The woman that shows ME where she goes canoeing in Algonquin Park.

The beautiful woman that takes me up to Mt. Tremblant to rock my ass mountain biking.

The amazing girlfriend that flies across the country with me to try snowboarding in the Rocky Mountains.

The crazy chick that says “well that was fun… now why don’t we try hiking the West Coast Trail?”

Is it really possible to get the best of both worlds? Can you really have your cake and eat it too? What kind of moron has a cake and doesn’t expect to eat it? Who came up with that insipid phrase anyway?

I may be a lot of things, and one of them is smart enough to realize just how good I’ve got it right now. With all of these incredible things we’re doing, as well as all the work we’re putting in to preparing for them, I thought it would be an interesting story to tell. But it really is our story, not just mine, so rather than just talk about it here, we started The Amourous Adventurers, a site for us (and anyone else that wants to get involved) to talk about outdoor travelling as a couple, our trips, our gear, and our experiences. Our adventures.

Hope you enjoy it.

I know I will!

1 mIkeBOOK (Susie), full to the brim (<300megs free space) and ready to go comatose any second.
1 mIkePOD (Chi), being used more every day.
1 Server (Linda), with an outdated backup drive and it’s own files.

I have four different libraries of music (the server has an old backup of the laptop, as well as a bunch of files on it’s main drive that were never synced). They each match up about 97%, but there’s those few hundred files that are unique on each of them that I need to consolidate. The problem is, we’re talking about 4 libraries, each in excess of 30 gigabytes and 8000 songs, so this is no small feat.

So far, with the help of FileMerge I think I’ve managed to sync up the 2 libraries on my server… now I’m looking at syncOtunes as a possible option for matching up Susie and Linda’s iTunes directories. After that, I still need to find something that will allow me to confirm that everything on my mIkePOD is on the server as well (so I can just wipe it and upload a single, complete library). Any ideas?

The goal here is to use the server as the central storage place for all my multimedia (photos, music, movies, etc.), that I can access either via wired/wireless network while I’m at home, or online remotely when necessary. This will allow me to alleviate poor Susie of carrying around all that baggage and let me do a full wipe/fresh install to get her back up and running the way she should.

PS – Oh yeah, I just realized the 5 gigs of music I’ve loaded onto my work pee-cee because Susie can’t fit anymore. Not as worried about that, it’s all new stuff, so it’s just a simple copy over.

PPS – OK, you can stop reminding me that I need to backup the server… External Firewire drive, kept in another room or building. That’s the plan. Thank you.

(S+C) x (B+F)/T = V

Let’s see… carry the 2… yup, that confirms it!

Dang I got a hot girlfriend!

(any bets on how long before she reads this and smacks me?)

Taking my girly-friend to my favourite little place on Earth this weekend… up for four days of gravitatonally-assisted, high-speed, semi-controlled, mountainous descent. We might do some snowboarding while we’re up there too.

These are the kind of conditions we’re looking at right now.

It’s mid-april. There too. As in spring.

Are you kidding me?

This is going to be farkin amazing!

My lovely lady has never had the pleasure of hurling down the side of a mountain with her feet strapped to a waxed board before (she’s been a couple times out in Ontario, but it’s not EXACTLY the same).

Now, because I like having a girlfriend, I’m not being dumb enough to try and teach her myself. As a Christmas present I bought her a lesson for our first morning out on the slopes (let her get pissed off that THAT sucker, then we can have fun!).

Of course she’s a little bit nervous at the prospects of mountain riding, and naturally I’ve been regailing her with epic stories of my own misadventures on the daunting slopes of the Alberta Rockies. Ex-roomie Bill told her about the first (and only) time he was in the mountains… rented his skis, bought his lift pass, walked up to the base of the mountain… looked…… up…. turned around and went back to the hotel.

She’ll do it. and she’ll love it.

And my master plan of having her fall in love with the mountains and moving to a log cabin in the woods with me will take one step closer to completion! Mwah-hah-hah!!