Wisconsin in a Bag

My jaunt to the Co-op today landed me in munchie heaven.
These chips were made for people born and raised in Wisco, like me and Keith at Ibex. Beer and cheese on a potato vehicle? Oh jeeze. Okay, so the beer flavoring is reminiscent of Pabst or Old Milwaukee but it's really more about the spirit of the chips. The only thing that could make them better is if they had bratwurst flavoring too! Beer, cheese, brats. Mmmmmm.....

Mahalo.

Mahalo loosely translated from Hawaiian to white guy talk means, "thank you". But as most indigenous languages go, there is much more to the word than we can appreciate. Here's a little excerpt I found on the web:

Aloha and mahalo are ineffable, indescribable, and undefinable with words alone; to be understood, they must be experienced. Think of them as single-word blessings or prayers.

Mahalo: [Ma = In] + [hâ = breath] + [alo = presence, front, face]
"(May you be) in (Divine) Breath.

And so I say Mahalo to KT, the funniest person I have ever worked with. It's no surprise that she got the most production out of me. I would eat the heads of chickens to work with KT again. You can't teach the skills this woman possesses and I'm certain that she is rifling through job offers as I type. Better get yours on the table.

Expensive

Honda Element: 5' 8" feet tall

Honda Element with Thule Box: 6'5" feet tall

Jeremy's Garage: 6'3"

MK's Thule Box: In Pieces.

Eco-Patriotism

My little secret is that I occasionally work at a retail store owned by some old friends that helped me get started in the outdoor business. It's an outdoor store of sorts-- different than what I rep in that it's full of traditional materials such as wool and canvas. I can tell you anything you want to know about axes and wool long undies from Sweden and lumberjack-style coats from Bemidji Woolen Mills. Ever heard of the Stormy Kromer Hat? I can give a sales clinic on those babies. There's even a birch bark canoe in the joint. I love it. It's a part of the outdoors that you don't see much anymore. I also love the people it brings into the store. A majority of my days are spent in an office, alone, dialing-for-dollars on the phone-- and face to face contact is like cocaine. I'm so eager to interact with humans standing right in front of me that I'm sure I'm a little over the top. So far, it's been good for sales.

Tonight two gentleman came in. They hailed from Italy and were in town for a couple of weeks doing cold weather testing for a helicopter company. They picked a good couple of weeks, eh? One man tried on a coat that didn't quite fit and thus began the conversation on size variances between Europe and the US. His comment that he finds clothes bigger here lead to the conversation of growing waistlines of Americans and their children. Then onto how strange it was that there were defibrillators all over the airports for anybody to use (which was a comment on how there are things we do here that they would never even think of). Then back over to consumerism in America and right into how much energy and oil we consume per capita in our country. I noted that yes, we are the largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world. I pointed out that China is bringing up the rear in that department but it came out as sounding like a lame excuse. As you may suspect, that lead to talking about Dub-yah and "how did 50% of the people vote for him?" *Sigh*

I'm proud to live in the country I live in. It's been hard for someone from my generation to really grasp the concept of people giving their lives to protect my freedoms, admittedly. I couldn't think of a better place to live-- well, maybe Canada...or Ireland...I digress. But it's really hard to be proud of some of the antics our country has been up to. I desperately wanted to convey to the visitors what is great about our country. That because we are so influential in the world, perhaps with new leadership the Kyoto agreement may be embraced by our country. The opportunity to be leaders and innovators in resource management and more ecologically sound practices is huge! (Holy crap, we're The North Face of the global community! See previous posts and links to comments on "Soap Box").

Part of me wanted to ask how "green" a life these guys lived. Again, dodging the issue and confrontation in the store in which I'm working in? Not so good. To be fair, the Italians mentioned that a similar situation occurred in Italy with their last election. Basically, the guy that nobody wanted got elected. I never knew such a fact because of our crap media in this country. When the death of Anna Nicole Smith dominates the news channels for most of the newscast, what do you expect?

As much as I dread the upcoming year and a half election process of commercials, campaigns, and news coverage, I am eager for some sound leadership in this country that can take us to new places in our relationship with the world community, within our own country, and with the planet. I would like to be more proud of the country that grants me the opportunity to speak my mind to the world without being shot for doing so. I just wish my freedom of speech came on recycled paper with soy based ink.

A Prayer for Owen Gingrich
(That's a literary reference, folks.)

Bringing a child into the world, by far, is one of the most incredible choices a person can make. Talk about responsibility. Talk about scary. Talk about pain. When I think childbirth, I think of K~ talking about J's shoulder getting stuck. Owie. I really like kids, I do. I just can't imaging being personally responsible for one. Hey, I worked at summer camp for 9 years, I got my lifetimes worth of being responsible for the development of children. Double my worth if you consider that for most of those years it was adolescent boys and one summer of children with social and behavioral disorders. Kids: Talk about an amazing act of I don't know what.

Then you have people like Dan. He and his wife adopted a sweet little boy, just born last week in Texas. Dan and his wife Alli packed up and headed south to be there for the birth of their newest addition to their soon to be very different life. Owen was born on Tuesday and had a tough couple days in this world that sound pretty scary to me. Things do appear to be looking up. The act of adopting a child and not really knowing how it will all work out would give me an anxiety attack. Yeah, you guessed it, I like to be able to anticipate my world. How much of the child will come from the "nature" element, or, genetics? How much of the child's personality will be a result of nurturing? The surprises, the inherent challenges, the struggles, the joys. I guess, really, it's not all that different than having a biological child--minus the stuck shoulders. When I consider what Dan and Alli are doing, it is so much bigger than anything I can wrap my head around. It is so selfless and amazing and incredible and amazing...did I mention amazing? It really leaves me at a loss for words.

Congratulations to the Gingrich's family. Send lots of love to Texas for the little man Owen Lane so that he can go home to Idaho and begin his life in the mountains.

Soap Box

I've been spending my allocated blog time on everyone else's blogs these days. I got myself all worked up and wrote a short story in response to some bloke's not-so-well-thought out statement about the dominating brands in the outdoor industry and their commitment to all things environmental. Then The BOSS Report Blog noted the string, and I was working on a doozie for that blog that I ended up tossing. I was afraid my associates would think I had gone off the deep end. THEN, the Get Outdoors Go Blog mentioned the dialogs--- even said my piece was "eloquent" (sweet)-- and I couldn't keep my itchy fingers still.

So how did I come out? Can't say that I have come to any conclusion or peace and I'm still fired up.

Here is the issue, in a nutshell, at question: The big keywords in the industry these days are: sustainabiliy, going green, environmental initiative, carbon footprint, organic, recycled, and any other catchy verbiage that the given marketing departments spend a week coming up with. There are many companies that appear to be taking genuine steps to lessening thier impact on the big blue planet. The bottom line is folks, that we are all in the business of selling stuff and increasing our bottom line. Grow or die, right? Worse yet, to consider the resources it takes to design, sample, sell, manufacture, ship, and support these products-- well, its no wonder our dependence on oil is what is is. Have you ever considered what goes into your rotomolded kayak, waterproof breathable paddle jacket, PFD, neoprene wetsuit, quick dry apres paddle wear, and cute new SUV to get you and all your shit there? So we are all about getting people outside and providing them with the tools and gear to be more comfortable and increase the fun factor all while trashing the planet to make the stuff. It's very overwhelming to me and I just don't know how to come to grips with it.

Only In Duluth.

Will Velcro the Porcupine see his shadow and predict 6 more weeks of winter?

Link.

I Don't Question Global Warming But Scheesh....

Currently At 10:17AM

-11°F

RealFeel®

-38°F

Winds: NW at 14mph

Cloudy

Humidity: 53%
Dew Point: -24° F

Pressure: N/A Visibility: 10 Miles

Up To Her Eyeballs Dealing With P.I.T.A. Sales Reps?
















....or the consequences of a week of breathing smog (aka "inversion layer") in SLC? (Boogers.)

Mental Note: ~Add FiberCon to packing list for next trade show.

5 days of out the door at 7 am and not really eating until 9 pm; snacking on Powerbars, Cliff Bars, Larabars, Lunabars and Waffles from the Dunham booth with lotsa powdered sugar to get all over your face before a line presentation.... have lead to dire consequences.