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I got up at six so that I could go and open the hill early today. Getting up early is the hardest part, although once I've had my shower, getting out isn't too much of a hassle. The weather started off really nice, but as the day wore on, the clouds rolled in and it started to rain. Then it freezing rain started to pour down. Eventually, it got so bad that the hill decided to close early. Good news you say? Well, considering that my shift ends at four, and the hill was closing at four-thirty, the guys from the first shift basically had to stay an extra hour to close the hill since there was no point for the second shift to show up. So this is the first day where I opened and closed the hill.
I had planned to go to the rookie party right after my shift. (I would've stuck around the hill until six or so because the party didn't start until six, but since the hill closed early, I ended up heading to the party an hour earlier than planned.) I had printed out a map to the location, but not everyone knew where it was, so I gave my copy to JM to photocopy. He returned to the hut sans map because he got distracted by other things, but he did eventually find the map again. I figured that I'd just give him my copy since I sorta knew where the place was (another guy gave me directions).
So the plan was to go to the place early so that I can reheat my sauce and cook the pasta. I drove to the community centre and since I was forty-five minutes early, I parked and waited..
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I waited and waited, and by the time six-fifteen had rolled around, I knew something was wrong. Unfortunately, I left the directions at the hut, I had given my map away, and I left my cell phone at home. I didn't have much else to do but look for another place that might've been the place, or go home and check. I went home.
The drive back home was pretty bad. Worse than the drive from the resort. The roads were completely covered with snow, and snow removal crews had only started to clear the roadways.
I did get home in one piece, so I got caught up with e-mail and cooked the pasta while I called in for proper directions to the place. Apparently the place I was waiting at wasn't the place the party was being held (although it had the same name). Doh! I decided to head back out (for the forty-five minute drive) despite the bad weather because.. well, I had a lot of food and if I went there already I might as well go back and go to the right place right?
Anyway, it was dark by then, and I decided to take some back roads because I thought it would be faster (than going through the city). At one point, I got to an intersection was wanted to make a left-hand turn. There were a couple of cars in front of me and we waited for the light to turn green. We waited, and waited..
The great thing about modern traffic lights is that many have sensors in the pavement to detect whether a car is waiting at the intersection so that the lights can change accordingly. This makes it very convenient for lights way out in the boonies where most of the traffic flows along one of the streets. The intersecting street gets the red light unless a car is waiting. Unfortunately, with the heavy snow, all of the markings on the road were obscured, which meant that the chance that we were on top of that sensor was pretty slim. After five minutes, the drivers in front of me got impatient and went on the red light anyway. I decided to test my theory and shimmied the car a few feet to the left. The light changed instantly.
<- does the "I was right" dance.
Despite being given the proper directions to the hall, I didn't write them down anywhere so I was going by memory and a vague recollection of what the printed map looked like. I missed my exit, but fortunately found it on the way back. *wipes brow* I sure as heck didn't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm.
When I arrived at the building, I wasn't actually sure if it was really the building I was looking for. There weren't many cars around, so I stopped and peeked in. Sure enough, I recognized the faces, so I went to park the car and.. got stuck. So I left the car there.
There were seven people there when I arrived, but a few more arrived afterward (and I thought I was late!). My suspicions were confirmed about the map when I heard that the map was actually incorrectly drawn (north was pointing south), and apparently the directions from the rookie who thought he knew where the building was was also incorrect.
Ah well, we all had a pretty good time though. I even got help to get my car unstuck (after much laughing and chrotling). I ended up going home with way more food than I came in with (and I came in with a huge pot of pasta). The drive back was even worse than the drive up. The roads were becoming impassible, and I was in danger of getting stuck a few times. (Or going off the road a few times.) But modern technology and nervous steering prevailed, and I made it back to the city in one piece.
I decided to stop by the arena to see how the hockey game went and came in just in time to watch a rally that fell short. Ah well, this just means that I'll be able to participate in the series final! *beams*
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