Thank you Exxon-Mobil!

We are currently experiencing a hot weather spell in Park City, and while the temperatures are far from excruciating compared to those experienced in the Salt Lake Valley and many other places, we’ve been blessed, so far, without much smoke in the air except for 2 or 3 days in June. 

But when one look at the climatic devastation around the world, from the gigantic forest fires in Europe to the flooding in many places, global warming remains more than ever the humongous elephant in the room. 

Of course, no one is talking about what currently ails the planet and is going to be humanity downfall as the eyes are turned towards wars everywhere and politician’s eccentricities but chickens always come home to roost, which clearly means that meaning that past actions, particularly humanity’s wanton plundering of our planet will eventually catch up with all of us and what we experience is just a sampling. 

This is in spite of the fact that for decades, many members of the fossil fuel industry have tried to convince us that a causative link between fossil fuel use and climate warming couldn’t be made because the models used to project warming were too uncertain.

Recently, it’s been showed that one of these fossil fuel companies, ExxonMobil, had their own internal models that projected warming trajectories consistent with those forecast by the independent academic and government models. What they understood about climate models thus contradicted what they led all of us to believe. 

This is why I’ve decided to say every time I greet someone during our morning walk, if they happen to answer “It’s gonna be another hot one” I always use my follow up answer “Thanks to Exxon-Mobil!” 

Neighbor relations...

My neighbor seems like a nice guy, but like many people likes to have things “His way”. The other day he had visiting guests at his home. The weather was warm and they had dinner on their outdoor deck that is less than 30 feet from our bedroom. 

All the diners were loud and when we went to bed at 9pm we could hear them pretty clearly. We were hoping that at 10pm everyone would all retire inside the house, but they kept their loud encounter going until about 11:30pm. I was so mad that I couldn’t sleep. 

The following night the same thing happened and fearing a repeat of the previous evening, right after 10:30pm, I texted my dear neighbor asking him to “please tell your guests to tone it down, thanks” A few minutes later they all quieted down but my neighbor never answered my text, as he probably felt too embarrassed to respond. 

I felt good about the way I handled the incident. Would you have responded differently and if so, how?

The Wooden Nickel, Jackson Hole

In July of 1984, as I was working with Lange and wasn’t quite happy with my stage in life and career, my interest had been perked up by a tiny ad I found in the “Business Opportunities” section of the serious Wall Street Journal. 

In it, a fashion clothing store was adverised for sale in the mountain resort town of Jackson Hole in Wyoming. I called the ad, talked to the store owner and found out that the asking price for the business (not including the building, of course) was around $120,000 (just under $400,000 in today’s dollars). 

The name of the business was the “Wooden Nickel” which, right in Jackson Hole, stood for western heritage, unique goods, honest value and rustic charm, a playful nod to frontier culture. So around that time, while on a business trip passing through Denver, I flew to Jackson to see the place. 

I had never been there and I loved it! The seller picked me up at the airport and showed me his business. I kind of liked it, but wasn’t too sure about that venture, so I said, I’ll think about it and I’ll talk about it to my wife. 

Work and daily life then flew by and later that year I began developing plans that would lead to my move to Utah in 1985. My western dream was getting on tracks and would become the game-changer it has been!

Weather predictions for next winter…

The latest outlook from the NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center just came out and covers pretty much the upcoming snow season including January, February and March 2027. 

It shows a recognizable El Niño pattern beginning to emerge with wetter conditions across much of the southern United States, drier weather across portions of the northern Rockies and increased odds of above-normal temperatures across large sections of the country.

These maps do not predict exact snowfall totals or individual winter storms. However, they provide what should be a good early indication of where the storm track may favor wetter, drier, warmer or cooler conditions during the 2026–2027 winter. 

As far as Park City is concerned you can see it for yourself: Temperatures trending higher and precipitation the same as normal. We’ll see, as always time will tell, and come early April, we’ll compare predictions against realities to see if any came close to what NOAA predicted….

Too much of a good thing

Portillo, the Chilean ski resort was supposed to open for skiing on June 27. It couldn’t as snow was not there on time. It did the weekend later with snow making on its Plateau ski runs, but on July 14 the access road was closed as a massive snowstorm began on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.

Over 5 meters (16+ feet) of total snow has piled up across the resort area since the system hit. Ski Portillo has remained closed and isolated due to the high volume of snow and safety precautions. 

Unofficial local forecasts and resort communications suggest that the closure could realistically impact travel until the first few days of August 2026. The Chilean Highway Department and Guardia Vieja local authorities manage Route 60 (the highway to Portillo). 

Clearing the road will require an immense amount of time to dig through the deep snowpack, clear stranded freight trucks, and complete extensive avalanche mitigation work. 

Ski Portillo's management said that once a safe weather window finally opens, they will first attempt to transport stranded guests to and from the resort via helicopter before the highway is fully cleared for public vehicles. 

While some central Chilean resorts like Valle Nevado have managed restricted 4x4-only openings for residents and staff with bookings, the severe high-mountain corridor leading to Portillo remains strictly impassable. 

Be careful of what you wish for!

The difference between mentors and catalysts

When I take the time to think about it, I don’t think I was ever fortunate to have a mentor, spotting me, guiding me, imparting their knowledge and watching me grow. At the very least, what I’ve often thought were “mentors”, were just encounters that deflected on my trajectory and made it somehow think. To borrow into the present fad, “influencers” might be a better word for what these people did to me. 

I could also say catalysts, which might be a more appropriate term. In fact, what I’m describing is more common than the classic “mentor–mentee” narrative we’re all taught to expect. Perhaps, the distinction I’m making between mentors and catalysts is something most of us never articulate, but many end up experiencing. 

Again, if a mentor is someone who walks alongside us, a catalyst is someone who bumps into us and changes our direction. In reality, most people have far more catalysts than mentors — but we often mislabel them as mentors because “mentor” is the socially approved story.

True mentors have three characteristics: They are there for the duration, they actively invest in our growth and they offer guidance, not just influence. They’re relational, present and committed. They’re the people who say, “I see where you’re going — let me help you get there.” 

Most people have very few of these, sometimes none. On the other hand, catalysts are very different: They appear briefly enough to disrupt our thinking, shift our trajectory and don’t stay around to watch what happens next. Catalysts are not mentors, they’re just inflection points. For instance, they’re the professor who said one sentence that stuck, the colleague who challenged our assumptions, the stranger whose comment re-framed our worldview or sometimes the book that jolted us awake. 

Catalysts don’t guide us — they ignite us. We generally confuse the two because our cultural narrative around growth is built around mentorship and we’re told that successful people have mentors. We’re also told that guidance is the noble path and this wisdom can only be passed down through relationships. 

Many of us never have a true mentor not because they’re unlucky, but because mentorship requires relationships, resources, time, alignment, mutual commitment and a shared sense of purpose. Catalysts, however, can be everywhere as life is full of collisions, not apprenticeships. 

Finally, if some people thrive under mentorship, others, like me perhaps who tend to be independent thinkers, self-directed learners, and people who value autonomy — grow more through catalytic encounters. Maybe I could say for people like me, catalysts often are the real mentors — just in a different form.

Forgot to do what I preach?

The other day, I was on the phone with a friend of mine who recently moved to France with her husband and explained that she was overwhelmed with a large make-over in the older house she just moved into. 

I suggested that she attempt to parcel out the tasks in trying to break up the work and then I realized I should tell her what my approach is when I’m faced with projects or challenges much larger than what I can handle. 

I told her to look at that undertaking with all of our competitive might and see in it a challenge that she had deliberately chosen to measure herself to the sea of average, mediocre human beings. She thought it was a cool idea… 

Then a few days later, as I’m now struggling to tackle a big project that doesn’t appeal to me at all, I suddenly remembered what I admonished that young lady to do and realized that the cobbler had no shoes and I better should tell myself the same set of admonitions. 

I did, and suddenly that ugly task of mine became sexy again and appealing to me. Amazing how our brain loves to forget or overlook what’s good for its own survival, health and pleasure!