DeathBed Logic

Big decisions are never easy. “Jeff, we’de love for you to join the team, see you Monday at 8 AM…assuming, of course... you accept our offer for the job”

Say it’s a great job, say it’s a job that could propel you to a very comfortable financial situation. BUT it’s a job. It’s not a love, a passion….what makes you tick.

This is where, as in any big decision, you weigh the pros and cons, try and decide what’s best. It’s never easy. It’s never simple.

One system I’ve employed in making any big decision is the “DeathBed” approach. Pretend you’re on your deathbed. Think about the decision….
• Decide if it will even be worth thinking about (scope)
• Decide which way you’d lean through saying “if I were on my deathbed would I regret “x”
• Make the decision off whatever sounds better

For example, moving to someplace exotic and altering your entire life qualifies in the “scope” category. Furthermore, when I say “Wow, I really regret that year I spent in Jackson Hole skiing all the time” while pretending to be on my deathbed it sounds
1. Ridiculous
2. Reasonable
This is how I currently make my big decisions. I may never leave my dream (Jackson) but worse things have happened to people. Oh well. If you have a more solid way of making decisions, please send them my way.

Changes....

It's strange, the day September 1st hit you could feel it. All of a sudden the long hot days of summer seemed to disappear...overnight. Usually it's a gradual thing, you know, the days slowly become shorter, the temps slowly get colder and the leaves slowly hit the ground. Well, maybe it's just because of sole anticipation but for whatever reason, September hit as I rounded the corner into my neighborhood, leaves were on the ground.

It wont be long before rain changes to snow and the snow will be flying. Early reports were heard that snow fell in a select few places just west of Denver for a short time last Monday. Hell, I ate chili and drank dark beer...that only can mean one thing.

This winter marks a big change in our lives as we've chosen to give up the potential paycheck and stable post college career life for "one" winter in Jackson Hole. The mecca. We can't say why, other than we want to ski... and see what happens.

In efforts to be ready for this big change, I've spent the better part of my summer rigging my 'new' vehicle to be ready for the environment. Not only will it be much colder and (hopefully) snowier place than the front range, but it's more expensive. With this in mind I've gone through a few mods to my 95 4Runner in hopes to get it set.



-1995 4Runner, 4x4, V6 that *might* hit 70 up a hill if you are low on gas and have nothing in it, but I'll take it if it starts and runs on the coldest of days and gets me to where I'm going!

-Real Tires-32" BFG All Terrains, hopefully will conquer any storm


-Sleeping Platform/drawer system- It's expensive in Jackson, if the snow starts flying, I quit my job and get evicted, no worries, all my gear will fit in my truck in an organized fashion plus I'll have a cozy place to sleep in my 0 degree bag. Plus since it works in a fold out fashion, the 4Runner still seats 4.



-Power Inverter 750wt & Dry Cell Deep Cycle Battery-I can run a boot dryer most of the night and still wake up with dry boots/gloves (Plus it'll run a blender in the parking lot for your marg drinking pleasures)

-Suspension upgrade-No, not to look cool but if I'm hauling my whole life's worth of gear around it's nice to not ride around on your bottom out bumpers. This is why I went with a stiffer, more-burly-than-stock suspension setup from Old Man Emu.

-Rack-No, the truck didn't come with factory rack rails so I had to drill and put some in. Heavily silconed to keep any water out. Rocket box and ski rack attached to top for obvious gear hauling purposes.

The truth is we plan on doing a few IFSA events (big mountain comps). Working as professional dishwashers will barely pay rent let alone lift tickets, entry fees and hotel rooms. This eliminates one of those items while always allowing the option to get snowed in on the top of any pass you can think of....