No Ski Patrol

Last year during the ski season I was all pumped and ready to join the ski patrol on the local hill. I had applied to be a ski instructor but they needed people on the weekends and I am usually swamped and busy on the weekends with hockey and all that good stuff, so that didn't work out. I have several friends on the local patrol and when I was talking to them the light bulb went off in my head and I inquired about ski patrol. The man in charge, JD, is a friend and he encouraged me to come aboard. He even put me to through some assorted skills tests on the hill, which I think I passed because whenever I saw him afterward he commented on being on ski patrol. I.e., I think I was in.

Well, when the new year started, it turns out that I don't have the time I thought I would. With A in school and me working 2-3 PT jobs, plus with hockey and skiing (at some point), I'm so busy I can't pull it off, after all. In fact, I've cut back on my SP work over at the hospital because I just can't do the morning shift. With this in mind, I had to tell JD that I didn't have the time and couldn't do ski patrol. I felt bad because I'm the one who initiated all this and he's been very cool and supportive all along. The simple fact of the matter is that I just can't spend an entire day on the hill, at least not from morning til afternoon.

I tried to come up with a solution and because of this delay I didn't tell JD until he called me to confirm I was still interested. I guess I still was, I just couldn't do it logistically. He understood and was cool about it, though deep down he probably wanted to strangle me, not so much because I'm bailing out, but because I waited until the last minute to tell him. Sorry JD, but I think they'll be able to fill the slots. They have a good crew over there.

Just a quick note, part of the reason I wanted to do patrol was to get free skiing for me and the kids, but it turns out I get it anyway with my job. Good fortune has come my way. Now if we could only get some snow.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to DennyMont for the pic.