Deep Freeze

What a weekend! Hotlanta experienced the Deep Freeze, followed promptly by the Big Thaw. Usually, my car is nice & safe in the garage. But this weekend, it was exposed to the icy elements. I was going to stay off the road, but I had to check up on my frozen plants, frozen pipes, and hopefully, NOT my frozen hot tub. So off to the car I went.

I was expecting to find ice everywhere, but DAMN! Can a brother have a slight chance of getting into my car? The ice was a quarter inch thick. Unable to open the door. *sigh* I had to drop kick my door to crack the ice. Crazy. For the Atlanta folks, y'all are like yeah... yeah... we all went through it. But for the non ATLiens, here are some pictures of my ride after I started scraping the ice off the windshield. Luckily, I had a ice scraper in my trunk.

One, Two, Three, Four, Five.

BTW, I did NOT rent my rims.

Rent-A-Rim

I thoght it was joke. I was hoping it was. But sadly, its true. I came across an e-mail describing how if you can't afford to bling-bling your ride, now you can rent the rims & tires to front like you're a baller.

Can't afford some spinners? Do something stupid like rent a set!

Check out them out: Rent-A-Wheel (CA), Rent-A-Wheel (FL), Rent-N-Roll

An actual quote:

Actor Ray Smith, 29, of Inglewood pays $60 a week for his rims, which will amount to more than $3,000 over a year for a set that could be
bought for $1,560 cash. "It's not that bad," he says. "It's affordable."

Earlier, I blogged about how I hate seeing the fake spinners on cars, maybe this is the solution.

I agree, nice rims are a near necessity to make your ride look unique, and special to you. But if you can't afford them... stick to aluminum, or plastic hubs.

Somalia

Why isn't there any news of Somalia receiving any world assistance after they were hit hard by the Tsunami? Is it because they are not getting any?

Rare Negro

I forgot to mentioned one of my more memorable moments of the Whistler trip.

First of all, I couldn't believe how cold it was in Atlanta. I could've stayed in the Mountains if I wanted to enjoy freezing weather a little longer.

On the bus ride from the airport to the rental car place, I struck up a conversation with the other passengers, intrigued by 2 black folks w/ skis. It was fun, good conversation. But then it all took a turn. The guy that was with his wife & 2 kids, wanted to know how I could afford all these trips. I looked at him, and told him I "budget". That obviously wasn't good enough. He continued staring at me as if he was saying, "No, really. Do you play for the Falcons, Hawks... drug dealer...." So I satisfied his curiosity, but didn't understand why he all up in my b'ness so abruptly. I saw him when he left. He's rolling in a BMW M3. I'm like, what the hell do YOU do for a living. Too bad he couldn't hear me.

Whistler

I'm back from skiing up in Whistler, Canada. It was a great getaway. My hilights:

You know how when you bite into ice cream, your teeth hurt from the cold? That's how it felt when you smiled while outside.... it was that cold.

Day One: Looking for a challenge, I ski to the Whistler Peak. You know the slope is steep when you can stand straight up, stick your hand out to the side touch the mountain. There wasn't that much snow, so I had to seek for the soft spots. I'm sure you can imagine what will happen if you ski accross a patch of ice or rock on a vertical slope. The fall would've been at least 500 ft.

Day Two: Looking for a challenge, I followed the sign that pointed towards a Black Diamond run. I saw some tracks heading over a ridge, that must be the way, right? WRONG! I get over there, and it's custered with trees, on a sharp downhill slope, and no where to go but down. The funny thing is, I looked around, and two folks had followed me. I asked them "Where are you going?" Dude said he was following me. Mistake #1. His girlfriend was following him. So we all had to scoot our way down slope between the trees. The steepness wasn't a problem, but it was hard to maneuver my 120 cm skis through 2 ft wide openings.

Day Three: Looking for a challenge, I skied the Blackcomb Glacier. Ever experience veritgo? You know how you can't see anything when you're in a bright room then turn all the lights off? Since I was in the clouds, no trees, can't see any people, EVERYTHING's white! You get to a point where you just can't tell what it is you're seeing, everything's white. Which way is down? That's when spitting comes in handy. :-) Fortunately, there are markers which guide you in the direction of the trail.

I saw an ice cave! Naturally made, it was an awesome sight. I wish I had a camera (weekend objective). I went inside, all blue. Didn't stay too long, there's a risk of it collapsing

I love Whistler! I bought a 500 piece puzzle of the mountain. I completed it in two days.

Question: How is there a glacier when the mountain isn't adjacent to the ocean?
Answer: The snow makes a stream as it melts, but most of the water never makes it off the mountain, it freezes. More melting. More freezing. Result is a year round glacier. The ice caves were formed at the base of the glacier as water runs through the mountain or under the snow/ice, then freezes when it exits the mountain.

Off to da snow....

I'm all packed and ready to head off to my first ski trip of the season! I'm very excited. Whistler, Canada.... the best place to ski in North America. :-) This will be the start of a very active ski season (by Atlanta standards). Vail next month, Vermont in March, & maybe some small trips to the NC & TN hills. But its way too warm out here.

I'm the race director of the local Black Ski Club, so that has me even more motivated. This will be my warm up before I flex my skillz at Vail.

That's it for now... I'll holla back when I get back... in one piece!

Lingerie Sells

I wake up this morning to the CBS Early Show. I never watch CBS in the morning. Guess it was left on CBS after the football game ended. Anyways, I'm expecting to see a high quality news show. Maybe it was quality, but I was too distracted by what the host, Rene Syler, was wearing.

She was wearing a business suit. It wasn't covering much, and all I saw was some lace lingerie. Since when was this the attire of a news anchor? A black womam at that!? Must be CBS's plan in increase vieweship. She kinda looks like Aunt Vivian from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Aire. Doesn't she?
Well, now you know what I've been thinking.

"I Won't Let You Fail" - Part III, The Finale

Well, I tried. My goal was to help out this kid that I was writing about earlier, but it just wasn't meant to be. The kid, he's clueless. But no wonder, he learns it from his parents. I waived the white flag, and turned him back over to the courts. Whatever happens, happens. I guess you can't save them all. Thus far, I've helped two, and this is the first one that couldn't even make a simple weekly phone call. I know I'm no fun to talk to, that's probably why my phone rarely rings. If I had a choice, I wouldn't even call myself. But if the choice is that or get a criminal record... I'll be straight calling myself on three way every night! OK, I'm trippin. Tired, I guess.

Anyways, this other kid seems to be on top of everything. Should be another success story. The mission continues... helpin' these teens... one at a time...

Phuket

Observations

The news lady was in Phuket this morning. But she never said where she was, only said SE Asia. I wonder if earlier she accidently sllipped up & said, "This is Diane Sawyer in Fuck It. Back to you guys in New York!"

It's no secret what everyone's New Year's Resolutions include. The parking lot at my gym looked more like Saturday night at the movie theater. It was more packed inside! Can't wait until February, when these folks realize they were only kidding themselves to stay in shape.

Boondocks

OK, I love the Boondocks too.

I hope everyone had a great holiday! I went from digging out of half a foot of snow in Cleveland to doing yard work in Atlanta, all in the same week! Today's ATL high is 65. It was single digit lows in CLE!!!!







HAPPY KWANZAA everyone!!!