Originally Posted by
Datto
I didn't write about the Spot device to be necessarily sensitive nor politically correct. it wasn't meant for Franciscan Monks nor Marjorie cutting hair down the road at Salon 64.
It was directed specifically and pointedly at prospective 2017 AT thru-hikers in-planning so they have an acute awareness of why it is important to inspect everything in their backpack for usability, particularly on their pre-hike prep hikes. It's also for those on a tight budget who don't have the resources to successively spend monies on items in their backpack that have little use for a thru-hiker. All this to avoid 150 thru-hikers showing up to Springer Mountain next year with snake bite kits, cast iron skillets, an axe and radiator hose clamps. There is a relatively known weather window for a northbound AT thru-hike so you don't want to be the thru-hikers in Georgia saying aloud to themselves after the first few days, "I'm only making three miles per day and I don't know why."
No one has to agree with me. Heck, that's what the success of the Internet is all about. Prospective AT thru-hikers can make up their own mind.
As I was preparing to head to Springer Mountain, GA to start my AT thru-hike I had to do my exit interview at the Fortune 1000 company where I had worked for the previous five years. I was surprised to find my exit interview was being handled by a Big Shot in the company -- an Executive VP as I remember -- the guy who was the head of Human Resources.
I'd arrived at the guy's office and the appointed time, shook his hand and took a seat on the sofa in his office. He sat behind his desk and in the next five minutes, we concluded all the necessary questions and paperwork needing to be transpired during an exit interview. The guy then said to me, "I hear you're going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail?"
I said yes, I was heading there in a few days.
He said back to me, "What kind of skis are you taking?"
The windmills in my head were going round and round thinking, skis...skis. I was trying to figure out whether this was a joke and if he was pulling my leg.
I was caught so off-guard I didn't know what to say so I finally said back to him, "I wasn't planning on taking skis."
He said right away "Of course you are" and turns back to the credenza behind his desk to retrieve a stack of ski equipment magazines. I was then told about all the types of skis there were on the market and which type might be most appropriate for the Appalachian Trail.
I listened to him while saying to myself, "He's serious" and how I was going to lose the remainder of the hour-long time in my life to hear about AT ski equipment. I really didn't want to lose that time but I didn't want to make a bad impression with the guy.
The night before, at his house for my benefit, he had retrieved the ski magazines he'd kept for the past year and had gone through each of the magazines in order to circle the ski equipment I might need.
I really do appreciate it when individuals take the time to go out of their way to help others so I'd decided to play along. When he showed me a catalog page where he had come to the conclusion on what ski equipment would be good for me, I said to him, "So you think that's the one. The right model?"
He said, "Oh yes. These would be the right skis for the Appalachian Trail."
I told him, "Okay, I'll look into those".
Then he turned back to his credenza again and retrieved another stack of magazines -- these being the ones from LL Bean.
Oh no.
That very nice HR Big Shot had also gone ahead, on my behalf, and had sorted through all the gear and clothing in the LL Bean catalogs he'd had on-hand at his house and had circled with a wide felt-tipped marker the right parka I would need for the Appalachian Trail.
it was something fitting for a climb of Everest. The magazine page showing a guy wearing that parka with a big smile on his face. That parka alone must have tallied in, I am guessing, at more than seven pounds and well, with the skis I'd be all set. All-in-all, the weight from the LL Bean recommendations from the HR Guy would have left me no room for food in my backpack.
I said I'd look into those suggestion too.
Finally the meeting came to a close and he was kind enough to neatly tear out all the ski and LL Bean pages from the magazines so I could take them with me when I went home from my last day of work before heading to the AT.
On the way out to my car I'd said aloud something to the effect of, "Another fine day in Corporate America coming to a close."
So I get to Springer Mountain a few days later and start my AT thru-hike the next day. It's a very nice day, weather-wise, to start an adventure. On the second day from Springer Mountain I'd stopped at a shelter near the AT treadway to take a break. Another hiker was already there and I said hello and we did mutual introductions. The other hiker was just finishing eating something from his cookpot and getting packed up so I retrieved a package of gorp type mix from my backpack and started eating. The rush to get to Springer Mountain and the entirety of the adventure had started to sink in. I was looking at the cellophane package of gorp, reading the text on the package, actually thinking of something else when a small advertisement in the corner of the gorp package read, "Win A Ski Trip Instantly".
The other hiker became concerned when I was just about falling down with laughter. To him the laughter came all of a sudden without reason. I was trying to catch my breath to explain to the other hiker why I was laughing but I never reached a level of communication before that other guy hiked out. He'd probably thought I was some kind of lunatic.
I kept that gorp package and sent it back home with other needless items somewhere uptrail. I saw that empty gorp package a year or two ago and it had cracked me up then too -- it's now with other hiking mementos in my Lucky Box (I think) in one of the storage units down the road from my cabin.
Datto
I didn't write about the Spot device to be necessarily sensitive nor politically correct. it wasn't meant for Franciscan Monks nor Marjorie cutting hair down the road at Salon 64.
It was directed specifically and pointedly at prospective 2017 AT thru-hikers in-planning so they have an acute awareness of why it is important to inspect everything in their backpack, particularly on their pre-hike prep hikes, for usability. It's also for those on a tight budget who don't have the resources to spend repetitive monies on items in their backpack that have little use for a thru-hiker. All this to avoid 150 thru-hikers showing up to Springer Mountain next year with snake bite kits, cast iron skillets, an axe and radiator hose clamps. There is a relatively known weather window for a northbound AT thru-hike so you don't want to be the thru-hikers in Georgia saying aloud to themselves after the first few days, "I'm only making three miles per day and I don't know why."
On my AT thru-hike, the AT miles before that and AT miles since, I've seen enough cast iron skillets and hatchets to choke a small blast furnace -- quite of few of those being carried by people claiming to be AT thru-hikers.
As I was preparing to head to Springer Mountain, GA to start my AT thru-hike I had to do my exit interview at the Fortune 1000 company where I had worked for the previous five years. I was surprised to find my exit interview was being handled by a Big Shot in the company -- an Executive VP as I remember -- the guy who was the head of Human Resources.
I'd arrived at the guy's office and the appointed time, shook his hand and took a seat on the sofa in his office. He sat behind his desk and in the next five minutes, we concluded all the necessary questions and paperwork needing to be transpired during an exit interview. The guy then said to me, "I hear you're going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail?"
I said yes, I was heading there in a few days.
He said back to me, "What kind of skis are you taking?"
The windmills in my head were going round and round thinking, skis...skis. I was trying to figure out whether this was a joke and if he was pulling my leg.
I was caught so off-guard I didn't know what to say so I finally said back to him, "I wasn't planning on taking skis."
He said right away "Of course you are" and turns back to the credenza behind his desk to retrieve a stack of ski equipment magazines. I was then told about all the types of skis there were on the market and which type might be most appropriate for the Appalachian Trail.
I listened to him while saying to myself, "He's serious" and how I was going to lose the remainder of the hour-long time in my life to hear about AT ski equipment. I really didn't want to lose that time but I didn't want to make a bad impression with the guy.
The night before, at his house for my benefit, he had retrieved the ski magazines he'd kept for the past year and had gone through each of the magazines in order to circle the ski equipment I might need.
I really do appreciate it when individuals take the time to go out of their way to help others so I'd decided to play along. When he showed me a catalog page where he had come to the conclusion on what ski equipment would be good for me, I said to him, "So you think that's the one. The right model?"
He said, "Oh yes. These would be the right skis for the Appalachian Trail."
I told him, "Okay, I'll look into those".
Then he turned back to his credenza again and retrieved another stack of magazines -- these being the ones from LL Bean.
Oh no.
That very nice HR Big Shot had also gone ahead, on my behalf, and had sorted through all the gear and clothing in the LL Bean catalogs he'd had on-hand at his house and had circled with a wide felt-tipped marker the right parka I would need for the Appalachian Trail.
it was something fitting for a climb of Everest. The magazine page showing a guy wearing that parka with a big smile on his face. That parka alone must have tallied in, I am guessing, at more than seven pounds and well, with the skis I'd be all set. All-in-all, the weight from the LL Bean recommendations from the HR Guy would have left me no room for food in my backpack.
I said I'd look into those suggestion too.
Finally the meeting came to a close and he was kind enough to neatly tear out all the ski and LL Bean pages from the magazines so I could take them with me when I went home from my last day of work before heading to the AT.
On the way out to my car I'd said aloud something to the effect of, "Another fine day in Corporate America coming to a close."
So I get to Springer Mountain a few days later and start my AT thru-hike the next day. It's a very nice day, weather-wise, to start an adventure. On the second day from Springer Mountain I'd stopped at a shelter near the AT treadway to take a break. Another hiker was already there and I said hello and we did mutual introductions. The other hiker was just finishing eating something from his cookpot and getting packed up so I retrieved a package of gorp type mix from my backpack and started eating. The rush to get to Springer Mountain and the entirety of the adventure had started to sink in. I was looking at the cellophane package of gorp, reading the text on the package, actually thinking of something else when a small advertisement in the corner of the gorp package read, "Win A Ski Trip Instantly".
The other hiker became concerned when I was just about falling down with laughter. To him the laughter came all of a sudden without reason. I was trying to catch my breath to explain to the other hiker why I was laughing but I never reached a level of communication before that other guy hiked out. He'd probably thought I was some kind of lunatic.
I kept that gorp package and sent it back home with other needless items somewhere uptrail. I saw that empty gorp package a year or two ago and it had cracked me up then too -- it's now with other hiking mementos in my Lucky Box (I think) in one of the storage units down the road from my cabin.
Datto
I didn't write about the Spot device to be necessarily sensitive nor politically correct. it wasn't meant for Franciscan Monks nor Marjorie cutting hair down the road at Salon 64.
It was directed specifically and pointedly at prospective 2017 AT thru-hikers in-planning so they have an acute awareness of why it is important to inspect everything in their backpack, particularly on their pre-hike prep hikes, for usability. It's also for those on a tight budget who don't have the resources to spend repetitive monies on items in their backpack that have little use for a thru-hiker. All this to avoid 150 thru-hikers showing up to Springer Mountain next year with snake bite kits, cast iron skillets, an axe and radiator hose clamps. There is a relatively known weather window for a northbound AT thru-hike so you don't want to be the thru-hikers in Georgia saying aloud to themselves after the first few days, "I'm only making three miles per day and I don't know why."
On my AT thru-hike, the AT miles before that and AT miles since, I've seen enough cast iron skillets and hatchets to choke a small blast furnace -- quite of few of those being carried by people claiming to be AT thru-hikers.
As I was preparing to head to Springer Mountain, GA to start my AT thru-hike I had to do my exit interview at the Fortune 1000 company where I had worked for the previous five years. I was surprised to find my exit interview was being handled by a Big Shot in the company -- an Executive VP as I remember -- the guy who was the head of Human Resources.
I'd arrived at the guy's office and the appointed time, shook his hand and took a seat on the sofa in his office. He sat behind his desk and in the next five minutes, we concluded all the necessary questions and paperwork needing to be transpired during an exit interview. The guy then said to me, "I hear you're going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail?"
I said yes, I was heading there in a few days.
He said back to me, "What kind of skis are you taking?"
The windmills in my head were going round and round thinking, skis...skis. I was trying to figure out whether this was a joke and if he was pulling my leg.
I was caught so off-guard I didn't know what to say so I finally said back to him, "I wasn't planning on taking skis."
He said right away "Of course you are" and turns back to the credenza behind his desk to retrieve a stack of ski equipment magazines. I was then told about all the types of skis there were on the market and which type might be most appropriate for the Appalachian Trail.
I listened to him while saying to myself, "He's serious" and how I was going to lose the remainder of the hour-long time in my life to hear about AT ski equipment. I really didn't want to lose that time but I didn't want to make a bad impression with the guy.
The night before, at his house for my benefit, he had retrieved the ski magazines he'd kept for the past year and had gone through each of the magazines in order to circle the ski equipment I might need.
I really do appreciate it when individuals take the time to go out of their way to help others so I'd decided to play along. When he showed me a catalog page where he had come to the conclusion on what ski equipment would be good for me, I said to him, "So you think that's the one. The right model?"
He said, "Oh yes. These would be the right skis for the Appalachian Trail."
I told him, "Okay, I'll look into those".
Then he turned back to his credenza again and retrieved another stack of magazines -- these being the ones from LL Bean.
Oh no.
That very nice HR Big Shot had also gone ahead, on my behalf, and had sorted through all the gear and clothing in the LL Bean catalogs he'd had on-hand at his house and had circled with a wide felt-tipped marker the right parka I would need for the Appalachian Trail.
it was something fitting for a climb of Everest. The magazine page showing a guy wearing that parka with a big smile on his face. That parka alone must have tallied in, I am guessing, at more than seven pounds and well, with the skis I'd be all set. All-in-all, the weight from the LL Bean recommendations from the HR Guy would have left me no room for food in my backpack.
I said I'd look into those suggestion too.
Finally the meeting came to a close and he was kind enough to neatly tear out all the ski and LL Bean pages from the magazines so I could take them with me when I went home from my last day of work before heading to the AT.
On the way out to my car I'd said aloud something to the effect of, "Another fine day in Corporate America coming to a close."
So I get to Springer Mountain a few days later and start my AT thru-hike the next day. It's a very nice day, weather-wise, to start an adventure. On the second day from Springer Mountain I'd stopped at a shelter near the AT treadway to take a break. Another hiker was already there and I said hello and we did mutual introductions. The other hiker was just finishing eating something from his cookpot and getting packed up so I retrieved a package of gorp type mix from my backpack and started eating. The rush to get to Springer Mountain and the entirety of the adventure had started to sink in. I was looking at the cellophane package of gorp, reading the text on the package, actually thinking of something else when a small advertisement in the corner of the gorp package read, "Win A Ski Trip Instantly".
The other hiker became concerned when I was just about falling down with laughter. To him the laughter came all of a sudden without reason. I was trying to catch my breath to explain to the other hiker why I was laughing but I never reached a level of communication before that other guy hiked out. He'd probably thought I was some kind of lunatic.
I kept that gorp package and sent it back home with other needless items somewhere uptrail. I saw that empty gorp package a year or two ago and it had cracked me up then too -- it's now with other hiking mementos in my Lucky Box (I think) in one of the storage units down the road from my cabin.
Datto
I didn't write about the Spot device to be necessarily sensitive nor politically correct. it wasn't meant for Franciscan Monks nor Marjorie cutting hair down the road at Salon 64.
It was directed specifically and pointedly at prospective 2017 AT thru-hikers in-planning so they have an acute awareness of why it is important to inspect everything in their backpack, particularly on their pre-hike prep hikes, for usability. It's also for those on a tight budget who don't have the resources to spend repetitive monies on items in their backpack that have little use for a thru-hiker. All this to avoid 150 thru-hikers showing up to Springer Mountain next year with snake bite kits, cast iron skillets, an axe and radiator hose clamps. There is a relatively known weather window for a northbound AT thru-hike so you don't want to be the thru-hikers in Georgia saying aloud to themselves after the first few days, "I'm only making three miles per day and I don't know why."
On my AT thru-hike, the AT miles before that and AT miles since, I've seen enough cast iron skillets and hatchets to choke a small blast furnace -- quite of few of those being carried by people claiming to be AT thru-hikers.
As I was preparing to head to Springer Mountain, GA to start my AT thru-hike I had to do my exit interview at the Fortune 1000 company where I had worked for the previous five years. I was surprised to find my exit interview was being handled by a Big Shot in the company -- an Executive VP as I remember -- the guy who was the head of Human Resources.
I'd arrived at the guy's office and the appointed time, shook his hand and took a seat on the sofa in his office. He sat behind his desk and in the next five minutes, we concluded all the necessary questions and paperwork needing to be transpired during an exit interview. The guy then said to me, "I hear you're going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail?"
I said yes, I was heading there in a few days.
He said back to me, "What kind of skis are you taking?"
The windmills in my head were going round and round thinking, skis...skis. I was trying to figure out whether this was a joke and if he was pulling my leg.
I was caught so off-guard I didn't know what to say so I finally said back to him, "I wasn't planning on taking skis."
He said right away "Of course you are" and turns back to the credenza behind his desk to retrieve a stack of ski equipment magazines. I was then told about all the types of skis there were on the market and which type might be most appropriate for the Appalachian Trail.
I listened to him while saying to myself, "He's serious" and how I was going to lose the remainder of the hour-long time in my life to hear about AT ski equipment. I really didn't want to lose that time but I didn't want to make a bad impression with the guy.
The night before, at his house for my benefit, he had retrieved the ski magazines he'd kept for the past year and had gone through each of the magazines in order to circle the ski equipment I might need.
I really do appreciate it when individuals take the time to go out of their way to help others so I'd decided to play along. When he showed me a catalog page where he had come to the conclusion on what ski equipment would be good for me, I said to him, "So you think that's the one. The right model?"
He said, "Oh yes. These would be the right skis for the Appalachian Trail."
I told him, "Okay, I'll look into those".
Then he turned back to his credenza again and retrieved another stack of magazines -- these being the ones from LL Bean.
Oh no.
That very nice HR Big Shot had also gone ahead, on my behalf, and had sorted through all the gear and clothing in the LL Bean catalogs he'd had on-hand at his house and had circled with a wide felt-tipped marker the right parka I would need for the Appalachian Trail.
it was something fitting for a climb of Everest. The magazine page showing a guy wearing that parka with a big smile on his face. That parka alone must have tallied in, I am guessing, at more than seven pounds and well, with the skis I'd be all set. All-in-all, the weight from the LL Bean recommendations from the HR Guy would have left me no room for food in my backpack.
I said I'd look into those suggestion too.
Finally the meeting came to a close and he was kind enough to neatly tear out all the ski and LL Bean pages from the magazines so I could take them with me when I went home from my last day of work before heading to the AT.
On the way out to my car I'd said aloud something to the effect of, "Another fine day in Corporate America coming to a close."
So I get to Springer Mountain a few days later and start my AT thru-hike the next day. It's a very nice day, weather-wise, to start an adventure. On the second day from Springer Mountain I'd stopped at a shelter near the AT treadway to take a break. Another hiker was already there and I said hello and we did mutual introductions. The other hiker was just finishing eating something from his cookpot and getting packed up so I retrieved a package of gorp type mix from my backpack and started eating. The rush to get to Springer Mountain and the entirety of the adventure had started to sink in. I was looking at the cellophane package of gorp, reading the text on the package, actually thinking of something else when a small advertisement in the corner of the gorp package read, "Win A Ski Trip Instantly".
The other hiker became concerned when I was just about falling down with laughter. To him the laughter came all of a sudden without reason. I was trying to catch my breath to explain to the other hiker why I was laughing but I never reached a level of communication before that other guy hiked out. He'd probably thought I was some kind of lunatic.
I kept that gorp package and sent it back home with other needless items somewhere uptrail. I saw that empty gorp package a year or two ago and it had cracked me up then too -- it's now with other hiking mementos in my Lucky Box (I think) in one of the storage units down the road from my cabin.
Datto
I didn't write about the Spot device to be necessarily sensitive nor politically correct. it wasn't meant for Franciscan Monks nor Marjorie cutting hair down the road at Salon 64.
It was directed specifically and pointedly at prospective 2017 AT thru-hikers in-planning so they have an acute awareness of why it is important to inspect everything in their backpack, particularly on their pre-hike prep hikes, for usability. It's also for those on a tight budget who don't have the resources to spend repetitive monies on items in their backpack that have little use for a thru-hiker. All this to avoid 150 thru-hikers showing up to Springer Mountain next year with snake bite kits, cast iron skillets, an axe and radiator hose clamps. There is a relatively known weather window for a northbound AT thru-hike so you don't want to be the thru-hikers in Georgia saying aloud to themselves after the first few days, "I'm only making three miles per day and I don't know why."
On my AT thru-hike, the AT miles before that and AT miles since, I've seen enough cast iron skillets and hatchets to choke a small blast furnace -- quite of few of those being carried by people claiming to be AT thru-hikers.
As I was preparing to head to Springer Mountain, GA to start my AT thru-hike I had to do my exit interview at the Fortune 1000 company where I had worked for the previous five years. I was surprised to find my exit interview was being handled by a Big Shot in the company -- an Executive VP as I remember -- the guy who was the head of Human Resources.
I'd arrived at the guy's office and the appointed time, shook his hand and took a seat on the sofa in his office. He sat behind his desk and in the next five minutes, we concluded all the necessary questions and paperwork needing to be transpired during an exit interview. The guy then said to me, "I hear you're going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail?"
I said yes, I was heading there in a few days.
He said back to me, "What kind of skis are you taking?"
The windmills in my head were going round and round thinking, skis...skis. I was trying to figure out whether this was a joke and if he was pulling my leg.
I was caught so off-guard I didn't know what to say so I finally said back to him, "I wasn't planning on taking skis."
He said right away "Of course you are" and turns back to the credenza behind his desk to retrieve a stack of ski equipment magazines. I was then told about all the types of skis there were on the market and which type might be most appropriate for the Appalachian Trail.
I listened to him while saying to myself, "He's serious" and how I was going to lose the remainder of the hour-long time in my life to hear about AT ski equipment. I really didn't want to lose that time but I didn't want to make a bad impression with the guy.
The night before, at his house for my benefit, he had retrieved the ski magazines he'd kept for the past year and had gone through each of the magazines in order to circle the ski equipment I might need.
I really do appreciate it when individuals take the time to go out of their way to help others so I'd decided to play along. When he showed me a catalog page where he had come to the conclusion on what ski equipment would be good for me, I said to him, "So you think that's the one. The right model?"
He said, "Oh yes. These would be the right skis for the Appalachian Trail."
I told him, "Okay, I'll look into those".
Then he turned back to his credenza again and retrieved another stack of magazines -- these being the ones from LL Bean.
Oh no.
That very nice HR Big Shot had also gone ahead, on my behalf, and had sorted through all the gear and clothing in the LL Bean catalogs he'd had on-hand at his house and had circled with a wide felt-tipped marker the right parka I would need for the Appalachian Trail.
it was something fitting for a climb of Everest. The magazine page showing a guy wearing that parka with a big smile on his face. That parka alone must have tallied in, I am guessing, at more than seven pounds and well, with the skis I'd be all set. All-in-all, the weight from the LL Bean recommendations from the HR Guy would have left me no room for food in my backpack.
I said I'd look into those suggestion too.
Finally the meeting came to a close and he was kind enough to neatly tear out all the ski and LL Bean pages from the magazines so I could take them with me when I went home from my last day of work before heading to the AT.
On the way out to my car I'd said aloud something to the effect of, "Another fine day in Corporate America coming to a close."
So I get to Springer Mountain a few days later and start my AT thru-hike the next day. It's a very nice day, weather-wise, to start an adventure. On the second day from Springer Mountain I'd stopped at a shelter near the AT treadway to take a break. Another hiker was already there and I said hello and we did mutual introductions. The other hiker was just finishing eating something from his cookpot and getting packed up so I retrieved a package of gorp type mix from my backpack and started eating. The rush to get to Springer Mountain and the entirety of the adventure had started to sink in. I was looking at the cellophane package of gorp, reading the text on the package, actually thinking of something else when a small advertisement in the corner of the gorp package read, "Win A Ski Trip Instantly".
The other hiker became concerned when I was just about falling down with laughter. To him the laughter came all of a sudden without reason. I was trying to catch my breath to explain to the other hiker why I was laughing but I never reached a level of communication before that other guy hiked out. He'd probably thought I was some kind of lunatic.
I kept that gorp package and sent it back home with other needless items somewhere uptrail. I saw that empty gorp package a year or two ago and it had cracked me up then too -- it's now with other hiking mementos in my Lucky Box (I think) in one of the storage units down the road from my cabin.
Datto
I didn't write about the Spot device to be necessarily sensitive nor politically correct. it wasn't meant for Franciscan Monks nor Marjorie cutting hair down the road at Salon 64.
It was directed specifically and pointedly at prospective 2017 AT thru-hikers in-planning so they have an acute awareness of why it is important to inspect everything in their backpack, particularly on their pre-hike prep hikes, for usability. It's also for those on a tight budget who don't have the resources to spend repetitive monies on items in their backpack that have little use for a thru-hiker. All this to avoid 150 thru-hikers showing up to Springer Mountain next year with snake bite kits, cast iron skillets, an axe and radiator hose clamps. There is a relatively known weather window for a northbound AT thru-hike so you don't want to be the thru-hikers in Georgia saying aloud to themselves after the first few days, "I'm only making three miles per day and I don't know why."
On my AT thru-hike, the AT miles before that and AT miles since, I've seen enough cast iron skillets and hatchets to choke a small blast furnace -- quite of few of those being carried by people claiming to be AT thru-hikers.
As I was preparing to head to Springer Mountain, GA to start my AT thru-hike I had to do my exit interview at the Fortune 1000 company where I had worked for the previous five years. I was surprised to find my exit interview was being handled by a Big Shot in the company -- an Executive VP as I remember -- the guy who was the head of Human Resources.
I'd arrived at the guy's office and the appointed time, shook his hand and took a seat on the sofa in his office. He sat behind his desk and in the next five minutes, we concluded all the necessary questions and paperwork needing to be transpired during an exit interview. The guy then said to me, "I hear you're going to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail?"
I said yes, I was heading there in a few days.
He said back to me, "What kind of skis are you taking?"
The windmills in my head were going round and round thinking, skis...skis. I was trying to figure out whether this was a joke and if he was pulling my leg.
I was caught so off-guard I didn't know what to say so I finally said back to him, "I wasn't planning on taking skis."
He said right away "Of course you are" and turns back to the credenza behind his desk to retrieve a stack of ski equipment magazines. I was then told about all the types of skis there were on the market and which type might be most appropriate for the Appalachian Trail.
I listened to him while saying to myself, "He's serious" and how I was going to lose the remainder of the hour-long time in my life to hear about AT ski equipment. I really didn't want to lose that time but I didn't want to make a bad impression with the guy.
The night before, at his house for my benefit, he had retrieved the ski magazines he'd kept for the past year and had gone through each of the magazines in order to circle the ski equipment I might need.
I really do appreciate it when individuals take the time to go out of their way to help others so I'd decided to play along. When he showed me a catalog page where he had come to the conclusion on what ski equipment would be good for me, I said to him, "So you think that's the one. The right model?"
He said, "Oh yes. These would be the right skis for the Appalachian Trail."
I told him, "Okay, I'll look into those".
Then he turned back to his credenza again and retrieved another stack of magazines -- these being the ones from LL Bean.
Oh no.
That very nice HR Big Shot had also gone ahead, on my behalf, and had sorted through all the gear and clothing in the LL Bean catalogs he'd had on-hand at his house and had circled with a wide felt-tipped marker the right parka I would need for the Appalachian Trail.
it was something fitting for a climb of Everest. The magazine page showing a guy wearing that parka with a big smile on his face. That parka alone must have tallied in, I am guessing, at more than seven pounds and well, with the skis I'd be all set. All-in-all, the weight from the LL Bean recommendations from the HR Guy would have left me no room for food in my backpack.
I said I'd look into those suggestion too.
Finally the meeting came to a close and he was kind enough to neatly tear out all the ski and LL Bean pages from the magazines so I could take them with me when I went home from my last day of work before heading to the AT.
On the way out to my car I'd said aloud something to the effect of, "Another fine day in Corporate America coming to a close."
So I get to Springer Mountain a few days later and start my AT thru-hike the next day. It's a very nice day, weather-wise, to start an adventure. On the second day from Springer Mountain I'd stopped at a shelter near the AT treadway to take a break. Another hiker was already there and I said hello and we did mutual introductions. The other hiker was just finishing eating something from his cookpot and getting packed up so I retrieved a package of gorp type mix from my backpack and started eating. The rush to get to Springer Mountain and the entirety of the adventure had started to sink in. I was looking at the cellophane package of gorp, reading the text on the package, actually thinking of something else when a small advertisement in the corner of the gorp package read, "Win A Ski Trip Instantly".
The other hiker became concerned when I was just about falling down with laughter. To him the laughter came all of a sudden without reason. I was trying to catch my breath to explain to the other hiker why I was laughing but I never reached a level of communication before that other guy hiked out. He'd probably thought I was some kind of lunatic.
I kept that gorp package and sent it back home with other needless items somewhere uptrail. I saw that empty gorp package a year or two ago and it had cracked me up then too -- it's now with other hiking mementos in my Lucky Box (I think) in one of the storage units down the road from my cabin.
Datto
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