Life is a basket filled with eggs...

On multiple occasions, I have wished a 60th or 72nd birthday to friends by sending them this picture of a basked filled with eggs and the caption: “I counted twice, there are (5 or 6) dozen. Just be careful, the basket is rather fragile”...

The more I think about it, and the more I realize the truism of this picture and the accompanying caption.

At the beginning, there's straw at the bottom of the basket to make sure the few eggs that are there won't bump into each others.

Later on, as eggs are progressively added to the basket, each one of them finds a snug spot as it interlocks with its neighbors from every sides.

More years later, as the number of eggs gets larger, the basket becomes heavier, the bottom eggs must withstand the sheer weight of a larger number of eggs piled up on top of them, the whole content becomes very fragile and must be handled with the utmost care.

That's when the comparison between too many eggs and too many years begins to sink in...

Are all the answers in the Bible?

We just saw “Boy Erased”, a good movie about the gay son of a Baptist pastor, pressured into attending a conversion therapy program to address his sexual orientation.

At one point, the father says: “All the responses to your questions are in the Bible...” and instantly, I thought about Google Home.

You know, the voice-activated smart speaker, that answers any question you might have from the weather, to the stock market or even Trump's age, not to mention, its ability to manage everyday tasks, and even control your home's smart devices.

Try to do all this with a Bible! Furthermore when I asked Google Home, “Is there life after death?” the clever device responded: “I don't understand your question.”

A cat's last life

Yesterday, as we were walking by the Mormon church, I saw a cat about to cross the road.

I momentarily lost sight of him as he slipped behind a bush, before he suddenly sprang into the road and couldn't see a passing Subaru that hit him right on the spot.

In a last spasm, the small animal turned around and died from internal injuries. His body was intact, without any trace of blood. In the United States and Canada, we say that “a cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three others he strays and for the last three, he stays."
 
Some folks say the nine lives myth is related to a cat's ability to always land on its feet. Mexican cats aren't so lucky, however, they only get seven lives. Put that on the account of a less favorable exchange rate.

How many lives do cats have where you live?

Meet the WSS...

For those of us who live in high elevations and in the snow, winter is always fraught with dangers. From slip-and-fall to pneumonia, a lot can happen.

When I was a young teenager, we had among friends a rather cruel expression to designate all old people. An acronym that could be roughly translated from French as “WSW or Won't Survive Winter.”

My parents that were closing in to their 60s heard it so many times from me that they started using it. The expression originated from a severely cold weather streak during the entire month February 1956 that caused massive damage and the loss of 12,000 lives throughout France.

We were then running a family restaurant, high up in the French Alps and occasionally catered to large buses filled with retirees.

Of course, these hapless folks were casually labeled WSW, not just by me, but by my brother, sister and both parents.

Today, I can laugh about it, since I've finally joined the WSW club and can only hope to make it at least to the spring of 2019!

Macron update

Now that he's been at the controls of France for about 18 months, Macron's popularity among his electorate seem to have hit a rough patch, especially since the “yellow vests” have shown their resolve to oppose the fiscal squeeze that the French government is exerting on them.

In March 2017, I wrote “Macron is the quintessential French Technocrat. He piles up words that are meaningless. Since he has no program per se, he is smart enough to agree almost 100% with whatever Fillon says and as the later is the only one who has a sensible platform, Macron shows his intellectual clarity.”

Well, I should have added that Emanuel Macron should have developed and worked on his salesmanship skills so he could sugar-coated his reforms. Instead, he acting on his plans, short of educating and convincing his numerous supporters to make it palatable for them and to convince them that his medicine would be bitter for just a short while.

But again most my countrymen all crave for reforms, but too few are ready to be directly part of them.

To plug or not to plug...

I love Tesla cars, but I'm still uneasy about what I see as a “logistical problem” with 100% electric cars. It's about what my wife and I like to do; the American Road Adventure Trip.

Another way to call it, is an improvised wandering somewhere in the West, lasting between a week to ten days.

Having to recharge everyday or even more would place a serious damper on that dreamlike adventure, and even though it's minimal, I hate to have to scrape it altogether if we were dependent upon a fully electric car and its lengthy as well as challenging and disrupting charges.

That's when a helpful solution comes to mind with the so-called plug-in hybrid car, that can be electric on short trips still being gasoline powered on much longer ones.

To that end, Subaru just announced that it will offer its popular Crosstrek model as a plug-in hybrid as a way to satisfy demand of customers who want something partially electrified but not totally depending on a plug.

An interesting as well as a much more affordable option that's getting all my attention...

Vail Resorts “bargain” pricing

For Thanksgiving weekend, Park City Mountain, one of the many Vail Resorts' affiliates, had one grand plan; squeeze the maximum number of dollars out of its least informed visitors, by charging them an arm and a leg for some pretty lousy skiing.

Consider this: If you came to Park City, you had the choice of two independent and unconnected locations: Canyons and Park City. Of the two, Park City is the least mediocre, with one chair that serves 1,278 vertical feet and basically one run.

The man-made snow cover was excellent and the price of the day lift ticket just amazing at $119, if you just show up and buy it at the window.

Now, if you purchased it on line, the day before, you only had to pay $111. Wow, what a saving! If someone has the magic formula to separate dummies from their money, it's Vail Resorts...

Insatiable Carlos?

I'm a big fan of Elon Musk and Tesla, but I've always been impressed with Carlos Gohsn's impressive career path in the car business.

This was of course until earlier this week to my sort-of-countryman got arrested by the Japanese authorities following an investigation triggered by a whistle-blower report.

Sure, Gohsn and his sidekick Kelly who are accused of financial misconduct remains innocent until proven guilty, but these recent revelations show that greed is nothing new and can affect everyone.

I also think that rich and powerful people aren't immune from it and often get confused between their power and their margin of maneuver.

In fact, just like the Facebook's duo Zuckerberg-Sanberg has showed, absolute power corrupts absolutely, too much money wets people's appetite for even more.

A real vicious and disgusting spiral on all counts...

Another opening: Season #66!

Yesterday, I made the effort to get my ski gear out and make a few turns at Park City Mountain that had just opened for the ski season.

This is my 66th winter on skis and the 34th since I've lived in Park City. I was expecting more terrain opened for the circumstances and had to make do with only one serious lift and two runs.

This said, the experience was a step up over last year which was downright miserable. So let's call this first day passable. I showed up at 1:15 pm and stayed till about 3:00 pm.

The lift was slow (I learned that it was running on Diesel, don't ask me why when Vail Resorts has committed to a zero carbon footprint by 2020!) and that didn't add to the already poor experience. By 2:45 pm, the crowds had left and there was no line.

Will I return today? Nope. We're expecting quite a bit of snow in the next days, so I let the tourists rub their skis on the man-made concrete. I deserve better than that!

A car to die for...

Our daily walk always takes us through the Park City cemetery.

For one thing, it shields us from the incoming traffic that dangerously zaps along the walkway, and it also provides us with a peaceful moment of reflection, plus it's now become so familiar to us that we almost know all of its full-time tenants on a first name basis.

Early this week, we ran into a brand-new Tesla Model 3, parked among the tombstones. That's when I blurted out to its four occupants standing out by the electric vehicle: “A car to die for!”

Jokes made inside a cemetery can be risky. Lucky for me, these visitors didn't seem in any mourning mood, they all laughed and we kept going.

Turning empathy into action

A few days ago, I called a friend of mine in France, to whom I had not spoken in a long time. As we were getting caught up, he told me that his son was, once again, out of a job. Not a good news.

His son, now in his forties, was educated to work in the merchant navy, where most jobs, in France like anywhere else in the first world, have been taken by developing nation citizens accepting rock-bottom wages. To make do for a while, he had taken a teaching job that unfortunately was coming to an end.

After he mentioned that, we kept talking, covering a variety of topics until our conversation came to an end. As I hung up, I thought to myself: “What do I do with that conversation? Do I let it slip by like this happen with so many casual talks? Now, how could I do something help my friend's son?”

Listening with compassion is one thing, but it doesn't do much good if not acted upon or put to work towards a solution, I thought. I'd never realized it before, but it's the exact truth. From that insight on, it didn't take me long to come up with some vague thoughts that focused on one idea in particular. I researched it further, and soon found a very original and targeted lead that hopefully might get that young man a job.

It's not done yet, but I hope it could and the take-away of that all story is that it's just a reminder that when we hear someone's sorrows, we always should look for some way to alleviate them. Often times, our own creative wheels have the ability to churn up a lead or come much closer to finding a solution...

When the older kid turns 40

There are milestones that hit parents more than others, like the first day kids go to school, graduate from high school, or turn 40.

The latter just happened to us last week when our son reached the big “Four-O”. This is a big deal, because not only it ushers him into full adulthood with all the control, joys and responsibilities this entail, but it also pushes the parents back into a more “ancient” corner.

It makes us a little bit less relevant and definitely older. It not only re-frames the relationship making it less direct, less interventionist, but it almost flips the roles. The child becomes the actor and the parent, the spectator. Likewise, the child becomes teacher and the parent, student.

As the child takes full control, we're becoming more subservient, as our influence, our physical ability, and our relevance wane. Another stage in the Tour of Life, I guess.

Happy 40th Birthday, Thomas!

Acting on intuition

It is said that intuition isn't a masculine trait, as some, like Red Green, state “men don't have intuition, they only have gut-feelings...” but I would disagree with that conventional wisdom.

Just like women do, men have insights too, right? Well, my point isn't about having intuition or not, but rather what to do with these bubble-like signals that pop up from our subconscious, alerting us about dangers or opportunities.

Too often, we ignore these, only to regret it later. So how should we manage our insights? First, we should investigate them: Do they make sense? What are they going to bring us? At what cost?

When we've got these answers, we have enough information to decide to either go forward with a plan or ignore the impulse. So far, I've been pretty well served each time I have seriously pursued my intuitions; granted, I've had some setbacks, but these are part of the inherent risk of trying something out of the ordinary.

Yet, more often than not, I've regretted not acting on these personal pulses and this is why, as time advances, I don't need any more regrets in my portfolio!

Electoral mess

Our election system in America should set an example for the rest of the world, yet, at least to me, this year appear to be a chaotic mess. It's been more than 10 days since polls closed in our crucial mid-term elections and some races are still undecided.

Sure, the contests that are still pending were far too close to be called, but still, this seemingly messy process stems in part from the fact that each state has its own set of rules and systems, then you add to it county-by-county variations.

In many places the voting infrastructure is woefully underfunded, and the management of the process woefully inefficient. The other aggravating factor is that the use of mail-in and absentee balloting have been largely expanded, making it more convenient, but also slowing the whole process.

It would seem to me that the country that leads the way in information processing and customer service, ought to do a far better job, as at times like this, our electoral process looks more that one would expect from a third-world nation.

Recycled Olympics?

These days, Salt Lake City, as well as Denver, are trying to convince the U.S. Olympic Committee that they're the perfect venue for the distant 2030 Olympics. Reno-Tahoe was part of that group until they dropped the idea a few weeks ago.

Both cities are joining Lilyhammer, Norway, in throwing their hat in the ring. Just like Lilyhammer, Salt Lake has the entire infrastructure, including the usual "white elephants" like bobsleigh runs and jumps, in place to host the games, plus a brand new airport to be partially completed in 2020.

Am I excited about that bid? Not really. I'll be in my early 80s at that point and I've never cared much for the Olympic Movement that I find overflowing with egos and greed.

I simply think that folks from down-under, that want to promote their winter product and know-how, like Australia, Argentina, Chile or New-Zealand, should be given a chance, but that would be too much to ask, I guess...

Bear Ears: A confusing documentary

I've never traveled, nor paid a visit yet to the Bears Ears National Monument, the 1.35-million acres of red rock canyons that Obama set aside, just prior to the end of his mandate.

So, I was quite anxious to discover “Battle over Bear Ears”, a new documentary on the subject that aired a few nights ago, on our Utah PBS station. I was disappointed by the piece which was more a string of sound bites by various folks involved in the debate, than a good explanation of the issues in contention.

It seems that the subject has been simmering since 1930, caused in part by continued pilfering and vandalism of ancient native artifacts and by the potential the area hold for all kinds of mineral extraction.

Utah conservative politicians, a few inhabitants of San Juan County and some native have fought Federal protection, while environmentalists and a large number of native tribes, have constantly pulled in the opposite direction.

While there is uncertainty about exploiting the mineral resources of that region, “controlled tourism” would help the entire area economically. That was until Trump, unilaterally reduced the 1,351,849 acres (547,074 ha) by 85% on on December 4, 2017.

Today, three separate federal lawsuits from five Native American tribes, a private corporation, conservation groups, and several non-profit organizations and NGOs. were filed by December 7, 2017 challenging that reduction.

This legal action, while taking an unknown amount of time, will add to the uncertainty and will continue to put in danger a whole region that needs protection from unbridled tourism and other exploration.

The points I just outlined were hard to see and understand from just viewing the film.

Not the sharpest tool in the shed!

When they fight for property listings, real estate agents are the ones that end up establishing sale prices. Often, the best way for them to get the listing is to offer the seller the highest price possible. In that way, the listing literally goes to the highest bidder.

This leads to price escalation, which explains why today, in Park City, prices have risen so much that sales appear frozen in place. Our real estate agents would have us believe that prices have only reached a plateau, when in fact they've already begun their descent.

Since these agents are not perceptive enough to realize it, they'll only reduce their prices with a “Too-little-too-late” approach, as the fall will drop faster than their appreciation of reality. Should we then, expect a repeat of the 2007 fiasco? Perhaps not, it's just a "correction" as many wishes, but who knows?

What's certain is that real estate agents are always top fast in raising their prices in an up-market, and too slow to lower them in a down-market, leaving the poor owner who's also the seller, the grueling and only option to swallow the difference and get stressed in the process.

Real estate agent: a breed of "professionals" that is in no way the sharpest tool in the shed!

Meet Merlin, the enchanter

Plumbing has very little charming to it, let alone enchanting. Yet, we have a plumber in Park City who dares to bring an extra dimension to unclogging pipes and plunging toilets by touting extrasensory skills that go far beyond mere house conduits and leaks of all kinds.

It professes to also be the answer to his clients' fortune telling and hypnotic needs. At least that's what his vehicles are telling passers-by when they're parked across from his home to advertise this unusual package of talents.

After living all these years in Park City, I have yet to employ that tradesman. I've tried though, in a recent past, but his bid came well-above his peers. I probably wasn't factoring-in his extra esoteric talents.

If I had, he could have solved my plumbing problems for life, projecting his magical, x-ray vision into all my pipes present and future. But once again, a lower price often brings less service; we only get what we pay for!

What happened to my tribe?

The word “tribe” has become a fashionable and widely used cliché these days, especially when it comes to politics, religion or simply belonging. As an immigrant, I may wonder where's my own tribe, what has happened to it, and what I should do to salvage what remains of it.

That social entity consisting of my own family, my former schoolmates and work colleagues while I lived in France, is inexorably fading away, getting out my reach and eluding me.

When you get separated from your tribe, your belonging to it becomes increasingly tenuous and more often than not, in spite of your best and more energetic or sustained efforts, it ends up vaporizing, slowly but surely.

This is precisely at that moment that you come to the realization that this concept of tribe wasn't worth much to start with.

This might also tell us that it's about time to let go of another illusion.

How to beat Trump in 2020

Often times, my wife tells me she hopes someone will finally beat Trump in 2020.

I respond, “Wishful thinking!” and I go on, saying: “Don't underestimate this devilish character. It will take someone incredibly strong and deft to take on the incumbent president, finding and vetting that individual will be key to unseating Trump”.

The man has shown how he could destabilize and vanquish his 16 co-primary opponents as well as Hillary Clinton by stopping at nothing in the arsenal of insults, innuendos, lies and body language, for which no one seemed prepared or ready to respond.

There's no question that it will take a courageous, strong, daring, charismatic and imposing personality to take the big-mouthed New Yorker and not only that, but someone who can think on their feet, improvise and be ready to fight fire with fire, and in the end, be much more resourceful and aggressive than the man with the orange hair.

Right now, I can't see anyone fitting that high profile; perhaps Beto O'Rourke? If you think I'm wrong, tell me how, and show me who your ideal Trump opponent is (if he or she exists)...

Does my vote count?

This is the recurring question and too often, the excuse voters use for not voting at all.

The answer to the question is that any vote always counts more than 100%.

In reality, on average, one single vote often counts double in the United States.Consider these numbers about voters participation at recent elections.

• 2014 Midterm election: 39% (one vote almost counts triple!) 
• 2016 Presidential election: 56% 
• 2018 Midterm election: 47% 2018 
• 2018 Midterm election, State of Utah: 50% 2018 
• 2018 Midterm election, Park City: 59% (my vote is only worth 1.7 votes, but that's perfectly fine with me!) 

In fact ,the best way to apprehend the stupidity of those who don't vote, is to see in their apathy the opportunity to also vote in their place.

Now, you get the answer to that rather stupid question, “does my vote count?”

What's an American Conservative?

Most of the midterm election results are in, and with them comes a better understanding about who voted for what.

In a nutshell, the Conservative Republican, or Trumpist voter was mostly white, male, old, uneducated more religious and rural.

Its Democrat or Progressive counterpart was racially diverse, female, young, well-educated, more secular and urban or suburban dweller.

Yes, we're proud to announce that Park City was in that second camp!

Enough said, but this suggests to me that the days of the Trumpist, Conservative Republicans are counted. It will take time, we'll be patient, but we'll get there.

Politics, disappointment and survival...

The mid-term elections brought back some normality within the United States without quite repudiating Trump.

Yet, I would have liked to see more, like a huge tidal wave, but it didn't happen and shows that our country still has a core of old, ignorant, white nationalists who take the time (like me) to go out and vote, unlike a vast majority of folks that should and... don't!

The “orange-hair-man” wrecking ball will keep on swinging for a while, but like anything in life, this too will pass, life will go on and progress will return.

My health and that of my family is good, that's what counts and even baby steps back out of the void are better than nothing.

Thanks for the Left Coast!

Last night we watched the election returns until about 9 pm, and until that time, nothing looked too great.

Sure, the Northern portion of the United States supplied some Democrat relief, but the middle was depressingly red.

That was without counting California, Oregon or Washington, that we call West Coast, but is better know as the “Left Coast”.

Once more, the “Left Coast” saved the evening!

These insane real estate prices

At desirable places, real estate prices are insane; they keep on climbing even though the number of sales seem to stagnate, that economic reality appears to have no effect on the law of supply and demand, which normally should turn prices down.

At the same time, real estate in undesirable places can't seem to appreciate and not much selling is going on there, either. This is true within two countries that I know well: France and the United States.

Urban areas with a healthy job market and recreational places by the sea, or in the mountains, are enjoying these skyrocketing prices that seem impervious to interest hikes that are now pushing up again.

These seemingly contradictory trends would suggest that with more super-rich individuals coveting the same quantity of prime real estate, that trend is likely to stay.

So the takeaway is that the old adage: “location, location, location” has never been so potent and with a growing world population, the good real estate is likely to remain in very short supply and its price pushing up higher and higher.

Is polling still working?

I don't know about you, but I ignore all the pesky calls that flood my phones, especially during electoral campaign time.

Many of them are from pollsters and even though I value good polls, I simply don't want to be tied up for minutes on the phone at dinner time!

This, of course, leads me to believe that if a large number of voters are like me, where do pollsters get the information they seek?

Whatever they are able to gather and how they have to go about it make me even more skeptical...

After the 2016 Trump debacle, I have decided to ignore the polls, but my intuition tells me that there will be a big surprise spurred by Donald Trump himself, but not necessarily in the direction, he'd wish to see.

We'll discover it this evening...

Lessons learned at the Ski Swap

For half a dozen years, I haven't missed one Park City Ski Swap. This year, as it was the 46th anniversary of the event, I noticed less attendees and a poorer selection than usual. Maybe online sales, end-of-ski-season sales, and stuff found around places like Costco, are somehow cutting into the interest skiers had for this kind of event.

At any rate, I was intent on buying a new pair of ski and had clear specs in mind: no more than 180 cm long, as lightweight as possible, and around 80 mm at the waist. I found all of this in a pair of 180 cm, Dynastar Legend X80, that I paid $428.35, versus some $600 at retail, but that was until I discovered, later on, that I could have bought it today, online, via evo.com for only $323.97 including shipping!

Okay, I made a mistake, but don't regret the entry fee that goes to the Park City Ski Team. Next time, though, I'll make sure to use my smart phone and the check current prices for the product I've found and want to purchase.

This said, much more than shopping for skis, ski swaps are fabulous for trying on a wide variety of ski-boot models and taking as much needed time to do so. The brand and model selection at these events is huge, and certainly much larger than at any ski retailers. The procedure should be the same as for ski. Find the model and size needed and compare with what's available on the web.

This way you can't lose. Have fun shopping!

Overpopulation at a spot near you

If you don't believe in overpopulation, travel to Asia, particularly to urban areas, like Tokyo and its 38 million folks, or climb Mont-Blanc, Matterhorn or Everest and you'll soon discover that there are no quiet places anymore.

If your tastes are closer to home, go to any park, picturesque venue or popular shopping area, and you'll be choked by the crowds. There's no longer any place to hide!

Our planet is bulging at its seams and yet no one talks about it, as if it were politically incorrect. Yet, as we wonder what to do about pollution or greenhouse emissions, the conversation should start with curbing the earth's population.

Why don't we start a conversation about it?

Successful, greedy but clueless

Early this week we watched one of our favorite TV shows, Frontline on PBS.

The story that runs in two installments, shows that Mark Zuckerberg had a terrific idea that quickly turned into a money-making machine.

His new found luck put him into the situation of the apprentice-sorcerer that was so blinded by the fame he got and by the money his entreprise amassed, that he never took a minute to consider and mitigate Facebook's most nefarious aspects.

What he has created and the way it was developed, is inherently bad. This goes a long way in showing that self-made billionaires can be imbeciles too!

Worse of all, it's also highly addictive as evidenced by the comments from one of his critics on the second video.

With that horrible invention, we can kiss democracy goodbye and put ourselves at the mercy of malevolent individuals. I'm so grateful I dropped the Facebook habit at the end of last winter!

Second part here!

Yakisugi anyone?

During our recent trip to Japan, and particularly when we toured the older areas of Nara and Kyoto, I couldn't help but notice the siding on older, beautiful houses that used a special wood treatment that I only previously noticed in and around my home valley of Morzine, France, in the siding or exterior wood adorning new, expensive homes. More recently, I know of one new home using wood siding prepared with this technique.

My countrymen call that “bois brûlé” which stands for “burnt wood”. My native Savoie might be one of the few Western places where that technique has been used as I have yet to see an example of it in the United States. The process, known as “shou sugi ban”, is a ­centuries-old Japanese ­technique for preserving and finishing wood by charring it with fire.

According to an article I found in the New York Times, the treatment which leaves behind a dense, carbonized layer of blackness has been around since at least the 18th century, though earlier examples exist. It began as a practical process used mostly for fencing and for the facades of rural homes and storehouses that held vital commodities like rice, that families wanted to protect from fires.

That's right, even though it's a bit hard to believe, burning the wood surface makes it fireproof. The external combustion neutralizes the cellulose in the wood, stuff that termites, fungus and bacteria love, making it undesirable to these same pests and resistant to rot.

The resulting charcoal layer repels water and prevents sun damage as well. By some estimates, boards that have undergone this process can last 80 years or more, but Japan’s Buddhist Horyuji Temple in Nara prefecture, whose five-story pagoda is one of the world’s oldest surviving wooden structures, has been around for much longer. Initially built in A.D. 607, the pagoda caught fire and was rebuilt in 711 using shou sugi ban.

In Japan, the process is called yakisugi, which roughly translates into ‘‘burned cedar board.’’ Traditionally, three boards are tied together lengthwise to form a triangular tunnel. The interior is then set on fire and the scorched surface cooled with water.

In France, a high-pressure water treatment is used following the burning process to remove the charcoal. I love the process, but find it lacking in brightness and colors. My brother who had his chalet redone in burnt wood some 10 years ago loves the process and told me that the only downside was the presence of many nasty splinters in the wood; watch your fingers !

Haloween annual stats

In spite of wild stock market gyrations, changing political polls and raising planet temperatures, our total number of Halloween visitors, last evening, has stayed at exactly the same level since last year.

Sure, we had just removed the remaining fallen leaves around the house, but I don't think this made much difference anyway. So here you are, if you need a beacon of stability, look at the Halloween visitations at our home.

Happy month of November!