After my vision of the future below, Ed sent me this picture of what the social order will be after the apocalypse with those who change their own oil, and those who don't. Pretty funny stuff.

A pretty do nothing week end in the Hafler household. The weather stayed cold and rainy so Marianne and I got on the wind trainer with coach troy to log some virtual miles

Today I was in a disscusion with my boss about the relative merits of changing your own oil vs having it done at the garage. He pointed out that after armagedon hits, I won't be able to take my car to a jiffy lube anymore. I responded by composing the picture above.

Presidents day weekend in Austria

Marianne, Laura, and I went out first while Michael watched little Alex. When we returned Michael had secured some tasty beverages at a nearby gausthaus. Michael and I then went out and tried the skate ski's. It was tough getting the rhythm of it, but the light bulb did go off eventually. Afterwards we met up back at the cars. Michael and Laura brought some fruitpunch tea and some snacks for an apre's ski tailgate party. Alex was bored with the whole thing and took a nap.

The views up there are amazing and we all had a great time and a good workout.

Sunday we set out for Obertillach which has over 60 kilometers of groomed trails and some great scenery. With typical Austrian efficiency the trails were already being groomed before we got there. I was tempted to pull over and jump in behind this guy. After watching the olympics Michael and I had rented skate ski's and were determined to master them as opposed to traditional style which is what I normally do.

X-Country skiing in Austria

This weekend we drove to Lienz, Austria for some X-country skiing. Lienz is about 100 miles from us but driving through the mountains it takes 3 1/2 hours. Crossing the pass the snow looked good, including this ice sculpture ouside Dobbiaco. As we got into town, the snow was obviously old and looking prettty weak. Lienz sits about 700 meters but is surrounded by high valleys of 1900 meters. Lucky for us that evening it started snowing! The next morning there was a fresh inch or two on the ground and 6 " up in the valley we planned on skiing.

Even though I neglected my bike ride to Bornass today "building center of the frame in this picture" the day wasn't a total loss because I did figure out one nice piece of information. The 14th of July will be my last official work day in the AF. Then I'll pretty much be taking vacation days until my retirement on October1st. 25 years and 1 month. Time flies when your having fun!

Fully intended to go for a bike ride today but the weather gods conspired against me with the temperature staying in the mid 30's and the threat of rain. Used to be this wouldn't stop me so I must be getting old. I did wrack up some miles on the bike in this configuration. I think this counts.

She flew in a 4 ship formation apocalypse now fashion. Having one of these would make commuting quicker.

Marianne got a nice thrill ride last week courtesy of the US Army. As part of some sort of rapid medical response team she had to learn to take a ride in a Blackhawk helicopter. Sounds like a good excuse to see the Alps from the air to me.

This President's day weekend is going to be our last trip to Austria for some X-country skiing. I was contemplating some new ski's this year but will hold off since the skiing is pretty poor in Hawaii. We really enjoy visiting up there. I often say the one of the best parts about living in Italy is that it borders Austria!

The big news in the Hafler house is that we recently found out we'll be moving to Hawaii this fall. We're trying hard not to be too upset about it as you can see.

Our first Post

Since we seem to be the last people I know who don't have a blog and I find myself with so much free time at work lately, this will be a worthy timekiller for the next 6 months.