Should I go metric?

Yesterday was a medical check-up day for me. Before I saw my doctor, the nurse checked my vital signs, including my weight of 73 kg. Well, usually on my bathroom scale it's more like 162 lbs. That sounds like a lot and it probably is, so that observation got me thinking: Should I switch to metric and forget about the backward way that America still clings to?

Sad, but true, as of today, only the United States, Liberia, and Myanmar still do not use the metric system for weights and measurements.

As you can see, we're in an extremely good company and this is probably one of the singularity that “makes America great” as Trump would say.

Only science, medicine, and technology are unofficially using the metric system and if I followed them, this would be easy for telling me the temperature, reading dimensions and weighing myself. True, I already use grams when I prepare a fondue, but I would be hard pressed to go with kilometers and do without miles if I wanted to avoid getting speeding tickets.

So the question for me is quite simple. Should I wait for America to switch (I'll probably need to keep living till I'm 200) or pretend I'm metric and confuse myself in muddling my way through the two systems?

This sounds very complicated, will require more thinking time like just now, for but it's now time for my 12 oz of beer!

Vail Resorts, Alterra and Sun Valley

There have been very few weeks when Alterra or Vail Resorts didn't announce a new acquisition or a new partner added to their impressive portfolio of resorts.

This rash of “marriages” have left few eligible “bachelors” after Jackson Hole, Telluride, Crested Butte plus its Easter “sister resorts”, Solitude, Taos and Boyne Mtn. ski areas, got somehow “wedded” to the two American ski giants.

If there were one conspicuous exception to that rush for affiliation, it might be Sun Valley and its twin Snowbasin, standing there, all by themselves, and seemingly desperately waiting for the Prince Charming that will prevail in the courtship and add them to his harem.

To me, that question is no longer if, but when. Has anyone got any idea?

Aung San Suu Kyi, return your Nobel Prize!

Following the UN report that calls for top military figures in Myanmar to be investigated for genocide in Rakhine state, I think that that Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, should at least be stripped of her Peace Nobel Prize for failing to intervene and to stop these crimes.

She sure isn't the first Nobel laureate to stir controversy. Others, like Henry Kissinger, Yasir Arafat and even Barack Obama have been criticized for being awarded that prestigious prize.

Yet, the Nobel Committee, made up of Norwegian citizens appointed by the country’s Parliament, has never rescinded a prize and is unlikely to intervene against Aung San Suu Kyi either.

Well, that's too bad and certainly not a good reflection of what the Nobel Peace Prize should stand for.

Faith and me

I've always been perplexed by faith. Sure, there are different kinds of faiths, so let's focus on the main ones:

First the faith in people and things, like “I'm 99.99% confident that when I wake up tomorrow, the earth will still be spinning...” or something like “I'm 67% sure that Tesla will succeed in spite of all the productions difficulties it faces at the moment.”

Then, there is religious faith, which represents a strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. I'm not so good in that category and my faith levels are all over the places.

For instance, I have 0% faith in life after death, but still believe at 99% in the law of Karma.

While you're in the mood, take the test and ask yourself the same questions!

Okay, there are also absolutes, like 100%. Do you believe for instant in death and taxes, as we say in America? I'd voice a 100% faith level on both counts. Okay, if find it hard to believe, you might only need a little more faith...

Which brings me to today's question; how is your faith going: Strong? Weak? In-between?

Beware of out-of-this-world promises!

This past Sunday, we went road biking, and as we passed by the Mormon church, alongside our regular route, we could see all the faithful in their best attire rushing to attend the long service.

They were looking at us thinking: “Poor devils, they're biking today and they'll go to hell tomorrow, while we'll be enjoying eternal life on our own planet!”

In turn, I was catching their glance, thinking: “My poor fellows, heaven is in the here-and-now, not in some far-fetched, future promised to fools gullible enough to believe it!”

Granted, their risk from falling off their bikes and getting hurt was nil compared to us, but our chance of enjoying another Sunday-made-in-heaven was as real as it gets.

Bets or future forecast about tangible events, financial products or commodities are always risky and many times fail to quite materialize as envisioned.

Now if you try to make similar bets or seemingly scientific forecast on irrational concepts like religion, your chances of any success become much thinner, and in all practicality, are simply never going to happen.

So, get real, take a hike or go skiing, boating, golfing or even biking on weekends, in the here-and-now, and you'll be guaranteed to have fully experienced the true taste of paradise!

Got mail!

A few days ago, I received a small size letter stuffed with goodies. Except for junk mail, a few utility bills, hearing aids and mortuary solicitations, there isn't special or precious landing inside my mailbox.

When I opened the envelope, I discovered a card, a bunch of stickers and a patch, all congratulating me for achieving “Trail Master” status for the 2018-19 ski season.

I happened to be one of 106 SeniorsSkiing.com readers for which the number of days skied at least equaled or surpassed their number of years (I scored 108 and am significantly younger than that number).

I don't know where they got that information; probably by asking ski resorts' stats as they relate to their season pass holders.

The website is targeted at skiers over 50 years of age and, while I don't read it that often, its content deals on “mature” topics like I guess, incontinence on the slopes, frozen-stiff limbs, and things along these lines...

From Pareto's rule to the rich 1%

Most of us remember that the Pareto principle states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Likewise, from what I've been told there are about 1,000 real estate agents around Park City, but I bet that only 50 of them control 95% of the total business.

This means a handful of them do really, really well, while the majority of them starve or make do with the remaining crumbs.

The same could be said about the entertainment and art business. Can we say that 5% of the singers or groups control 95% of the revenue? Same thing for artists of all stripes, from actors to dancers or painters? Probably.

Now if we revisit the much-maligned richest 1% of the U.S. population, we're told that these lucky households are earning more than $400,000 a year and their wealth is north of $10,000,000.

Too many zeros, not enough percents!