Bertl Bikes

It's been cold here recently. Really bloody cold! Regularly hitting -20 overnight and sometimes that low in the Alpine up on the mountain too! I've been able to stay at a friends a few times recently though, which was great on the coldest, windiest nights. But the hardest part? Everything freezes, and then defrosts when you run your heater. I've thrown a small mound of fruit and veg away that has frozen and defrosted more than once and just gone off. The coold I can deal wit, but I'm very grateful I invested in a better here before the winter really kicked in! This is what I bought, and it's worked well: Buddy Heater I've also spent some time catching up with Anne, my fellow vanlife friend here in Revelstoke. She's great to chill out with, as you'll have seen in an earlier post, I've also been touring with her and her husband, so she can ski well too! There're a number of van-dwellers here, but it's not much of a 'community' - t...

As above, new blog coming soon. I've been very busy with life recently, but it'll come. Shoulder update - I need to get another x-ray in a couple of weeks, not sure what the pro's opinion is yet, radiologist said not much had changed (could be good, could be bad). I'm trying to sort my summer plans out currently. It's been cold recently - down to -20. I'm very glad I invested in a better heater. Getting warmer again now though.

I wish I were better at it, today my x-ray got pushed back for a snowboard (should have been fine) and then wiring some stuff in a friends van, and by the time that was finished it was almost certainly too late to go in for it, so I drilled some holes in her van bed. She made the error of building a bed out of plywood, so now it traps moisture and starts to rot the wood out. Now we have to compromise it by cutting many, many holes. Just using slats in the first place would have been far better! (I did my research when I built mine!) I'll get the x-ray this week, but the shoulder has improved massively, it's more a formality and curiosity than anything else. *edit* I got it the day after instead. Just waiting to hear the results now

As you can imagine, it happens a lot, almost every ski resort has a nightclub and being a ski bum is associated with several things; Skiing (or snowboarding) Partying Drinking Drugs I've done my fair share of partying and drinking, drugs have never been my thing, and I've certainly done a lot of skiing and boarding but clubbing isn't the type of dancing I am talking about. The general consensus, among us younger (haha!) types is that staying home or just 'having a quiet one' is for the old and boring. Now I'm 31 I had to think about that for a while, and it wasn't a pleasant thought. Am I old and boring? (maybe a little!) The conclusion I came to was that, very simply, my interests in life changed. No longer am I hanging around with the lads from school - that social circle has disbanded; some of us moved to London, or up North, or got important jobs, and I moved furthest of us all. I've since spent 2 summers living in Turkey, 2 winters back and ...

The Happiness Project is a book I started reading a while ago, I guess you might call it a self-help  book. I call it a 'book I found in a book exchange that looked interesting when I was desperate for reading material'. Sorry it's not more significant Gretchen Rubin! The first couple of 'months' were easy to get through, but then it started to drag. We're so VERY different, her and I. I am already 'chasing my dreams', but my dreams are far, far different from those of a 40+ year old woman with 2 children who used to be a lawyer and is now a writer. In New York of all places. (sounds a smidge cliche). And I'm a 30 year old trying to be a professional bike instructor/guide living in a converted van in small ski town in Canada. She's made some good points though, and you should all be happy because, despite her busy lifestyle, she finds time to blog every day. Now, I've not actually bothered looking for her blog, but the fact she can fit ...

You'd have thought that with a broken collar bone life would slow down. It doesn't really feel like it has! Aside from the fact it seems to be recovering at a ridiculous rate (thanks body/god/those who pray for me), it still means I don't feel comfortable hopping back on a snowboard yet. A wise decision, I know! (must be getting old) But tonight I; finished work at 4.30, went and had a shower, then did some washing up, then moved to somewhere with wifi and then got started on minor life-admin. So far I've: Posted several things up for sale Messaged some friends back Advertised our Modern Jive Dance Class (blog regarding this coming soon!) Researched another snowboard - vitally important, obviously Which, when you list it, is a very short list, but I can assure you, it took far longer to do than to type! I also found and listened to some new music and watched the SEMA Battle of the Builders - not very interesting if you're not into cars. And dad, NO it has ...

Last Friday, 4th, I broke my right collar bone and on Tuesday I went to Vernon to see a consultant that I had been referred to. As per how these things seem to go for me, I ended up seeing two and having a third involved as well. The first consultant, on Tuesday, was incredibly busy - he saw 75 patients that day, which goes a little way to excusing him for the way things went. He told me he thought I needed surgery and I could book with him or (as he was just leaving on holiday) a colleague, and to get in touch with his secretary. After lots of back and forth between his secretary and my travel insurance company nothing was getting sorted. On Wednesday I spoke to a colleague of his who phoned another shoulder specialist, they conferred for a while and decided the best choice would not be to have surgery for now but to have another x-ray in 3 weeks and send it over for them to review. This decision was based on the fact that, despite the displacement of the two pieces of collar bone...