My two obsessions as of late have been skiing and coffee which actually compliment each other pretty well.  So when I'm not looking for a job, substitute teaching, shopping for groceries or running other errands I get all hopped up on coffee and go skiing.  My coffee has really come a long way.  From when I bought my La Pavoni Europiccola lever espresso machine it has been a long tough road.  The biggest recent improvements were due to a couple of modifications.  I know it is not generally encouraged to take apart home appliances but that is exactly what was necessary to improve my morning ritual.  First, I had always been convinced that my machine did not get hot enough.  About a month ago I took the sight glass that shows you how much water is inside the machine so you don't over fill it apart and rigged a pressure gauge onto the top of it.  This helped me figure out exactly when the heating element was cycling on and off.  These machines used to have a brass sleeve inside the group head that was prone to over heating so I think the pressurestats that control the heating element were set too low at the factory.  So after taking the base off and pulling the pressurestat out I was able to crank it down to get more pressure and more heat out of the little machine.  Yay.  Finally it is getting hot enough to make a good espresso.  Next I took the grinder apart and shimmed the top burr to get a fine enough grind to choke the machine.  After that I took a home popcorn popper, the West Bend Poppery II, apart and removed the thermostat so I can roast green beans in it.  After modifying all these little machines and ordering some green beans from Sweet Maria's I'm now getting excellent coffee out of my machine.  I would compare it favorably to just about any latte or cappuccino I've ever had at a cafe.  Unfortunately I'm going to have to go to caffeine rehab.

I've come to realize that the South Hills as they are called locally are going to be my only option to get out skiing very often around here.  The Wood River Valley and Soldier Mountain are simply too far away.  I feel bad enough driving 40 minutes to ski, much less an hour and a half or two hours.  Not to mention when the skiing is good the driving isn't so being nearer is always better as I have long argued.  The South Hills are nice.  They don't see a lot of use so there is a chance for solitary recreation which Kristin and I have found very peaceful.  My biggest enjoyment this season has come from experimenting with my ski gear.  I have used a few combination of light equipment that I hadn't previously tried and truly enjoyed it.  An experiment in route finding on a small circuit that had yet to be skied in very well led to some nice low angle turns and some bush wacking as well (sorry K!).

Here's some photos: first the new gauge on the espresso machine then a nice sunrise on the way up to the South Hills then of me and Deacon in the parking lot... as you can see we were the only ones around!