Welcome Home, George II

George II is our new iRobot Roomba. He's George II because George I met a horrible and untimely end.

George I came to our house in the fall of 2007. He was a Red 4100 series Roomba (one of the cheapest ones). He was bright red and happy looking. Evan was a bit skeptical. This "robot" can just be another one of the many gadgets I bought and will eventually end up in the basement collecting dust with the rest of our stuff. We charged him up, and let him go. Our hardwood floor throughout the house was perfect for this lower-end Roomba. George went everywhere, cleaned up everything. We didn't have to do any vaccuuming work.

We clean out George when he got dirty. Other than that, he merrily did his job. Now, the tale of George's demise. One Saturday morning, I let George go and do his work while I went to the gym. When I came back 90 minutes later, George was stuck and dog puke was all over him. Apparently, our 90 pound great dane mix threw up and George kept cleaning. Which meant, sweeping and sucking all the dog puke into his brushes and dragging it all over the house. I spend an hour cleaning the floor and George, who was salvageable.

Two days later, we left for work and George was happily sent off to do his job. When we came home, we walked into the most putrid and disgusting scene. Feces everywhere; on the floor, on the wall, on the furniture legs. Our beloved great dane had diarrhea. He let it all our on a relatively discreet corner of the house. It would not have been such a big problem if it wasn't for George.

The happy worker that he was. He must have attempted to clean the poo. But instead, he covered himself in liquid poo. He then dragged the poo from one little corner all over the house bumping into furniture and walls. Leaving poo marks on every conceivable area. George was not salvageable. I was not going to clean his brushes of doggie doo-doo. I, unceremoniously dumped him in the trash bag with the poo-fill rags and threw him out. George was a good robot.

We missed George.... So we got the exact same model, and named him George II.

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Breckenridge, CO

Now that we are somewhat used to the high attitude with its "brisk" air, we are ready for the Rockies. Breckenridge is owned and operated by the same corporation that operates Vail, Heavenly, and other high-end ski resort. Therefore, the price for a daily lift ticket per person is pretty steep. $86 per day!

With that said, I have to say it was worth every penny. The first day, we hit mostly the blue trails after we got found out that the green trails are very mellow. The groomed blues are amazine. Long, wide, and empty. There was no risk of running into anyone. The weather was also perfect. Sunny and clear in the 20s, after a night a light snow.

The night-life was quite lively. Dinner at the Irish Bar near the Village Hotel. The mozzarella sticks could have fed and army.

The second day up the mountain was just as rewarding. We attacked the blacks and un-groomed trails. I love those because I can ride on days of powder. Skimming on water and riding on powder must be very close experience. I can only think of one word, AWESOME. The Rockies, after allowing my body to get use to the mile-plus high air.

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Mile High Adjustment

Our west-coast snowboarding trip was Breckenridge, CO. The last time I was near the Mile High City and its mountains were in early 2002. My friends and I drove there from NYC. I think the slow adjustment to the high altitude made my transition much easier to handle. This time, we flew there from NY. Denver, at about a mile above sea-level wasn't so bad. I didn't feel any adverse affect during the short period of time from landing, picking up the rental car, and driving out of the city limits.

However, when we reached Breckenridge, the thin air hit me. Breckenridge is 9,600 feet above sea level. That's almost 2 miles above sea level. The first 12 hours in Breckenridge was us wheezing after easy activities, such as walking to dinner.

The Village Hotel at Breckenridge was definitely prepared for sea-level-dwellers like us. They had a humidifier in the hotel. We had that thing running the whole time. When we left, the room had the humidity level of a swamp. More comfortable for us than the "brisk" mountain air.

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