A week of treacherous weather conditions have introduced us to the darker side of life in Whistler - a few warm days followed by some very cold ones resulted in much of Whistler village (and the ski slopes) being covered in an inch or so of ice, making getting around a touch troublesome. Leo inadvertently found himself able to slide from the top of our road practically to the doorstep after a late shift at work the other night, and most of the house have found themselves on their backs at some point. I staked my claim for most spectacular fall of the season the other night when, having emerged from a drinking session at a friend's house, I proceeded to slide the length of the driveway on my back, coming to a halt with my feet on the bonnet of our taxi. Tears of laughter from my ever-sympathetic housemates (as well as the taxi driver) followed, bringing back memories of the unfortunate lamppost incident from episode three.
As ever, we have continued to burn the candle at both ends; we've had various visitors for the past week or so, and have done our best to show them the delights of Whistler by day and night. We had a reasonably dramatic late night incident the other week when Coote took it upon himself to get off the bus, unannounced, approximately three miles from home - a bad idea when it's -15 outside. I was apparently unconcerned, but fortunately Emily took charge of the situation and ordered him a taxi, which managed to find him on the bus route home. While his alcohol-soaked brain deemed it a good idea at the time, he later admitted it was "a bad choice"...
Our working lives are still looking reasonably fruitful - Leo is stashing away the cash as ever, and looking to save enough by the end of the season to take him interrailing around Europe in the summer. Coote and Emily are soon to join Leo at the Keg, thanks to two of his fellow bussers heading back to Australia - four of our ten person house will be working at the same place! I, meanwhile, have taken my first steps into the world of bouncing - news which will come as a surprise to most of you. I initially thought it was some kind of weak joke when I was asked to be a doorman at the bar next door to the Spaghetti Factory, but no. Fortunately, the punters at the Crystal Lounge haven't started any trouble yet, so my main job is standing by the door and giving people a stamp when they want to go for a fag. I am fast establishing myself as Whistler's least threatening doorman (they only have XXL or larger shirts for doormen, so my shirt bears a certain similarity to a tent), and my next shift is Australia Day on Wednesday. I'm reliably informed that this is essentially an excuse for Aussies, and Whistler residents in general, to spend all day drinking, so expect me to be dragging people out by the scruffs of their necks come Wednesday night...... perhaps not.
Thanks to the ice, the snow has taken a turn for the worse over the last week, with a bone shattering crust over much of the mountain. Coote, who has gained a reputation for laziness during his time in Canada, has seized the opportunity to spend extra time in bed, and the two of us went up the mountain the other day, only to be down within an hour - we are gradually becoming snow snobs. We've also managed to get our hands on a snowboard, and Leo decided to give it a go the other day while the snow isn't up to much - Emily and KK are also giving it a go for a week while they have friends staying, resulting in plentiful whining about board-related aches and pains. Talking of aches and pains, we've had the first few serious injuries of the trip in our extended friendship group, with a broken foot, torn shoulder ligaments and a broken wrist unfortunately putting various friends out of action in the last few days. As of yet, we remain unscathed, but are counting the days - getting fixed is an expensive business out here as well - $1000 for an X-ray... and people complain about the NHS...
We've also started saving for an end of season blowout trip to Las Vegas with an assortment of friends from Whistler - I'm stashing away $10 at the end of every shift, which will be going straight on red when we get there. Judging by my past record in Nottingham casinos, I don't hold out much hope for returning with any money... Flights and accommodation are actually surprisingly affordable, and Leo is tossing up whether to join us - he will be underage once more unfortunately! Either way it should be a good way to end our time out here - the plan is for two or three nights there, and I hope to be waking up to a tiger in the bathroom at least once. All in all, everything is well and we're still loving life out here - a dumping of snow over the next few days is all that we need. Until next time...
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