Everything DirectBuy

I just got back from Orlando Florida recently! Spent 11/17th to 11/20th there. I always feel like I am tempting fate every time I get in a plane. As I look out the window and see the ground thousands of feet below I know that humans are not supposed to be there drinking and eating snacks. So I am always glad to be back on the ground.

When we got to Orlando after flying flying 8-9 hours, we went straight to the hotel our company put us up in...

"The Gaylord Palms". It was a nice place. the whole hotel was set up to welcome us for the big DirectBuy convention. Everything was "DirectBuy" Flags and banners, projected lights and logos. No expense spared.



It really gave me a good idea of just how big DirectBuy is now. We recently hit the "worth over a billion dollars" mark as a company. However out here in Oregon it still feels comfortable and personal at our centers. Thats because our owners are great and really take care of us. We also have a great staff and very little turn over.

More about the hotel: It was huge, and out in the middle of nowhere. So we didn't really get to see all that much of Orlando. The food was good and I felt a little under dressed the whole time. I kept thinking "This place is for rich people, and I'm just a poser. But I still had a good time. I had to share a room with my co-worker Damien. He snores. I had a hard time sleeping and since I was 3 hours in the future I had to get up way to early for the presentations.

At the convention we get to listen to motivational speakers that touched on a lot of subjects: Attitude, the corporate business plan, customer service, and everything else you could possible imagine. Some of it was very boring, other times it gave me a lot to think about. They also gave out awards. The first photo below is Clay my boss getting an award for something.



In these photos you can see Damien, Clay, His wife Raylene, and Jeff. That was the extent of our party. I wish we could have taken some more staff. I wish I also could have taken Marni. It was lonely without her.

I don't wanna go on for too long so I'm just gonna post a few more photos.

Closing notes... Florida is to hot and sticky for me. The water is awful and nobody understand what good coffee is. I like colder places with a little more to look at. Florida was very flat. I could post a bunch of photos I took on the way back to the airport, but they would all look the same.

Since I have been back Marni and I went snowboarding! The season just started. Give me a few days and I will post some photos of our last trip! Case-

The Very End -0- Season

So this is what Mt. Hood looks like at the very end of Oct. We are still waiting for the fresh snow. It should be here anytime. But lately it looks more like we will have a late season this year.

That doesn't mean you can't still go snowboarding. I went up there last Sunday (10/28/07). I wasn't sure what to expect. Only 45mins before the lifts opened I was able to get front row parking. The place was pretty empty and I thought there would be more snow. I was also a little apprehensive because I knew there would be no terrain park. What fun is snowboarding if you can't throw yourself off a jump or two? But after driving an hour and a half I decided to go for it anyway.

Half the Palmer snowfield was closed off. Rocks were sticking up everywhere. After our last snow storm we got a wind storm that peppered all the new snow with dirt. Nothing looked that great. But so far I have never been disappointed with a trip up to Timberline.

After taking a few turns I got to the 2nd half of the Plamer. It was little more than a canyon trail leading back to the lift and much to my surprise nature made its own terrain park! A really incredible snow wall! I missed it on the ride up. It wasn't until I was sliding past it that I realized how much fun could be had. Everyone else had the same idea. The photos do not do it justice. It was much larger than it looks, and the angles were sharp.

So hours of fun were had, and I completely exhausted myself. Everyone there was really mellow and having a great time. It was nice not to be around a bunch of snobby pros trying to work on their demo videos.

By the end of the day the temperature heated up and the snow got soft and wet. The drop off of the snow wall was really eaten up providing an opportunity to try out more extreme drops into softer snow. I had some pretty good wipe outs. Someone lost control and ran into me but was able to walk away laughing. I posted the video on youtube.
Click here to Watch Video!

Part of me wants to run up there this weekend, but I think I will wait for some fresh snow. I really wanna take Marni up with me, but she needs less rocks and more open space. I get tired of going alone all the time. We have a ski and snowboard expo in town this weekend anyway. Its should be a lot of fun checking out all the latest cool gear. Its gonna be hard not to buy anything! -Case...