My first year as a Septuagenarian

While the World Health Organization sees 60 years of age as the threshold for being hold, and some sociologists push it to 65, I'm a little more generous and biased by allowing it to officially begin at 70, which has been my state of being for the past year.

I was a tiny bit apprehensive when I crossed that line some 12 months ago, but have since got used to it and here is what I have to report. First, I didn't totally fall apart and was able to carry out my daily activities with no regression worthy of major concern.

I have learned this very year that healing takes much longer, so I'm more careful in not hurting myself. I only went mountain-biking one time, I now hire someone to clean our hard-to-reach windows and I don't lift heavy loads any more.

Unless I've become totally delusional, I think that my brain still works well and my judgment remains well-grounded. As for skiing, it's so much second-nature that we won't even talk about it. Are there any no-so-good news?

My wife tells me sometimes that my body still looks good, but that implies that my face hasn't quite kept up and she'd right. So with all these (mostly) positive considerations in mind, I encourage you all to become septuagenarian, if you haven't started yet, and sign up for the full decade and beyond.

As for me,I feel well prepared and safe to travel the next nine years if I'm given that privilege!

Watch these closure times!

Every interconnected lift network has a requirement of closing time with clear consequences. If you miss it, you generally have no other choice but going back to your car or your home via bus or taxi.

That had never happened to me, until my daughter and I were forced to experience it this past Friday. For some reasons, I lost track of time (who wouldn't when ski is so fun).

In spite of realizing too late that we would miss our connection, and skiing like bats out hell to get to the gondola that connects The Canyons to Park City, we missed closure time by one measly minute, which sucks, but is well part of life and its silly rules.

We then had no choice to ski down the bottom of The Canyons and wait for the bus that would take us back to the Park City base area where my car was parked.

This was our first time riding one the new all-electric buses the transit system just acquired, and while we were lucky to find two seats as we were all squeezed like sardines in that enormous tin-can, it took us seemingly forever to get to our destination through the awful holiday traffic we in Park City call “carmageddon” to borrow a word from traffic-crazy California .

When we finally got to the bus stop, not only did we have to put ours skis back on and glide down to the parking lot where our car was waiting for us, but also extracting ourselves from that ungodly place.

Getting out of the parking area at 5 pm was all but impossible and we thought we'd be stuck all night in that huge traffic jam.

The morale of this lesson is that I won't miss the last gondola ever!

The nosy ski instructor

This is another story heard on the chairlift while I was skiing with my daughter.
Sitting next to us was a female instructor with two little girls aged between 6 to 8.

In the less than eight-minute ride, she was talking to them on topics ranging from fear, like “would you be afraid of a tiger?”, to her personal injuries “I have a plate and screws in my hand...”, to more inquisitive and inappropriate questions that she asked her students, like:

“What's your dad doing for a living?”
One girls smartly answered: “He works!”

Then the instructor turned to the other and inquired:
“And your dad, what does he do?”
“He's a doctor”
The instructor probed deeper:
“And your mom?”
“She goes to the gym...”

Priceless!

Minimizing danger, enjoying the thrill...

Skiing, or any sport involving strong sensations and speed, provide thrills that excite most of us and keep us hooked to the activity.

Yet, as we grow older, these feelings aren't necessary compatible with our safety, as they're often fraught with danger.

There is therefore a fine line to be navigated between these two opposite elements, and the best advice I always give myself is to pay much more attention to my physical condition, my movements, my technique and my environment.

This sure pays huge dividends but – I do know it - doesn't shelter me against the unexpected, but young or old, we are all up against that kind of odds...

The art of regifting...

Regifting or regiving that gift that has been received to somebody else is pretty common, yet we had seldom done it, simply because we must like the few things people give to us...

This was until we found at our doorstep a cake that one of our neighbor had dropped for us. This was the second time we had such a Christmas present. It was a buttermilk cinnamon streusel cake, that we were just unable eat the year before since it was so dry and sandy.

So, instead, we decided not to even make a second attempt at eating it based upon our previous experience. As we were invited to a Christmas Party and had to bring some wine, we also added that infamous cake, which we hoped, might find some appreciative specialists in search for a super-dry cake.

Excellent idea, as long as the gifter wouldn't be attending the party, which we were pretty sure they wouldn't. and with the shaky assumption in mind, we brought the streusel cake to the party.

In the midst of the event, another neighbor who lived kitty-corner from the person who so generously handed out the cake, told us that, he too, just like us, had recycled the confection.

In spite of all the angst this regifting had involved, it felt tremendously good not that we weren't the only one!

A wall? No, a cage over America

While Trump is throwing a tantrum over financing his wall between the USA and Mexico, he seems to forget that if there's ever such a formidable wall, illegal immigrant would circumvent it by entering the United States by sea to either the east or west coasts, or by flying over the wall and going to a State of their choice, or to Canada and then entering from the North.

What's therefore needed is a cage, lined with chicken-wire, that would be 50,000 feet high (so domestic flights could operate below), would extend to the limit of the Nation's territorial waters to finally prevent the influx of illegals.

Sure, it would cost more than the wall (something like $100 trillion in my estimate), but be quite worth it. You always get what you pay for!

Turning the light back on

Among a sea of terrible news, there sometime are a few good ones.

The main one, is that following the winter solstice, daylight is increasing again and soon, more sun will hit our skin, light will gradually return and we'll clearly see where we're going when we ski.

It will also liberate us from depressive thoughts, get us closer to a world without Trump and a stock market that begins humming again.

Before Christmas became so institutionalized, Yuletide was a pagan festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples before undergoing a religious reformulation.

So, today, let's proclaim it loud and clear: “Merry Christmas!”

Aging actively and beautifully

Klaus Obermeyer celebrated his 99th birthday on Monday, December 3, in Aspen, Colorado. This event has now become an annual party held at his Sport Obermeyer ski-wear company, he founded in 1947.

The Aspen Times, the local paper, interviewed the German-born entrepreneur and among many powerful thoughts of his, my main take away was this excerpt: “[life] is kind of like a dance on a floor that's moving. But you always end up where you aim for. Aim is a very important thing in one's life. It you aim up Aspen Mountain, you're not going to go up Red Mountain. It's a powerful thing...”

Now more than ever, Klaus Obermeyer is my hero!

The Great American Christmas Party

When I grew up in France, we didn't have Christmas Parties like Americans do, so this social phenomenon is worth explaining from a newcomer to America's viewpoint.

It displays a lot of elements I'm not fond of, like standing for hours on end with a glass in one hand and also with a plate of nondescript food plus a fork jammed in the other, which is anathema to a genuine French person.

Eating can only be accomplished when seating comfortably, at least that what my forebearers thought!

The next obvious question is what are these parties generally intended for?

For the hosts, it's to show off their home, with its architectural beauty, mountain views, furnishing and an overdecorated Christmas Tree. In other words, all the tangible components that show their status in life.

For the guests, it's one way of free-loading, of splurging on food and booze and of telling self-aggrandizing stories about themselves.

What's the take-away then? A good study in anthropology!

When two Frenchmen meet

Earlier this week, as I was running laps on Thaynes, in Park City, I rode the lift with a gentleman in his forties and I instantly detected a French accent from my companion.

Rightfully so, Olivier was my countryman who had lived in town for 5 years after arriving in San Francisco some 20 years ago. I suggested we skied down Thaynes and the young man went down full throttle which force me to keep up with him.

 As he saw me neck to neck with him, he accelerated, but couldn't keep up the pace all the way to the bottom.

We skied another run and he said “let's go slowly this time.” I acquiesced, but he pulled up the same trick and I had to beat him for a second time.

When we rode up for the third time, he said that he had to leave to pick up his son from school. Too bad, the third time is usually a charm!

What to make of Wall Street?

Because the Nation's general manager is so incompetent and his behavior so unpredictable, the stock market has taken a sick nosedive since early October.

The questions to wonder about are, will it ever stop and if it does, will it regain a fair market value, and when.

The financial service Morningstar offers a fair market value of the stock markets that pegs it at 89% of what should be its real value. Another way to look at it would be to say that, as of now the market has dropped 11% from its fair market value.

My hope and my reasoning is that it will eventually bounce back to its nominal level, but who am I to say this? Back in March 2009 the stock market was down 36% and it eventually rebounded.

This is essentially what keeps me confident and that's good!

Another Salt Lake Olympics?

The U.S. Olympic Committee has preferred Salt Lake City over Denver as candidate city for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

This decision comes at a time when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is seeing interest in hosting Olympic Games fall dramatically based on ever escalating expectations from the IOC and mushrooming costs that peaked at Sochi. Salt Lake think it would only cost them $1.5 billion, but I bet that, when all is said and done, the tab will closer to $10 billion (in today's dollars).

Salt Lake City would also prefer the 2030 date, but might settle for the 2026 if support for it keeps on eroding. Already, Calgary residents have resoundingly voted against the plan to bid for the 2026 Games. The vote left Sweden’s Stockholm and an Italian bid involving Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo as the only candidates left in the race.

The Swiss city Sion, Japan’s Sapporo and Graz in Austria all withdrew earlier this year, while Turkey’s Erzurum was eliminated from the bidding process by the IOC, which will elect the winning bid in June 2019.

Now, do I care if we were to get the Games once more?

Not really, but it's a big and easy target for politicians and for the Mormon Church that sees the event as an opportunity to showcase to the world its weird set of beliefs...

How some cars are still sold...

Recently, I received a mail invitation offering two lift tickets at Deer Valley Resort (value $338!) if I drove to a Salt Lake Cadillac dealership and test one of their new models.

I decided to act on the offer and asked to drive the XT4, a new luxury crossover that could meet my needs in a future automobile.

Upon arriving I gave my invitation and a new salesman picked up a car for me to drive. After fumbling with the unusual commands, I got going, drove for about 10 minutes and returned to the sales office.

There, they processed my lift ticket vouchers, the salesman asked me when I would be in the market to purchase the car and I was on my way. At no time was I asked what kind of car I currently drive, what kind of driving I was doing and what I was looking for.

This showed me that traditional car makers haven't changed a bit in their way they're peddling car and that's not a good sign.

Is Park City Mountain cursed?

...Or is it poor management all over again?

The previous owners of the ski area, lost their business by missing on a lease renewal deadline and today, Park City Mountain Resort (PMC), owned by Vail Resorts had to close one area of its best high-elevation terrain as a result of a landowner unwilling to renew a lease.

It appears that for the current season, skiers will have less than the 7,300 acres of snow to play into, if and when the matter gets resolved. Clearly, PMC seems all but on top of its lease management! The net result is that Scott's Bowl and West Scott's Bowl, all the way to the Constellation zone, off Pinecone Ridge, are closed to the public.

The Silver King Mining Company owns that land(it seems to be, in fact, the company that developed The Colony, at the Canyons) . Its origins date to Park City's silver-mining era of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its president is Jack Gallivan whose family has longtime ties to Park City.

Gallivan, said that the Silver King Mining Company controls approximately 1,000 acres of land in the Park City area and Big Cottonwood Canyon. The land involved in the former lease with PCMR covered approximately 115 acres, he said.


While it's partially located on the current “interconnect” itinerary between Park City and Big Cottonwood Canyon. He also said a portion of the property, located in an unincorporated area of Summit County, could be developed with houses, which in my opinion is an impossibility due to the fact that parcel is totally landlocked.

This closure is based on the loss of the lease "until further notice", that condition upon the situation getting resolved. Skiers can still access Pinecone Ridge terrain off the Quicksilver Gondola top station.

However the back-country accessible from PMC can only be entered from the resort’s dedicated exits at 9990 and Peak 5.

This incident further revealed that the rest of the Jupiter terrain is actually owned by Alterra Mountain Company (the resort's biggest competitor) and leased to Vail Resorts, so PMC better watch carefully this other one!

Holidays Messages

Not so long ago, the only way to convey our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year was through the mail, by means of a card that most generally remained pretty much the same, season after season.

Then came the internet and the ease of email that turned that practice on its head. There were electronic cards, e-newsletters relating the events of the year, more corny emails, and because that stuff was generally so bad, a majority of folks quit doing anything, feeling a certain sense of exoneration from that yearly chore.

Writing was beginning to be dead and our U.S. Postal Services kept drowning into deeper red ink. As some might have expected, we took another route and went video. We began in 2010, so this is already our 9th season.

Sure it's not Bollywood drama, yet alone Hollywood quality, but it has worked. Or at least, that what we like to think. Others, on the receiving end might beg to differ, but we still wish them a wonderful holiday season!

Pelvic thrust: Digging deeper

This season, it took me about 15 skis outings to get my confidence back. Put it in the account of age or early season snow conditions, but it's not unusual.

What I rediscovered in the last day, however, was my theory of “pelvic thrust” discussed last March, as a way to initiate turns in more difficult terrains and steeper slopes. I was able to observe it last year without fully comprehending the way it worked.

Now, after even explaining it to my wife, I understand it better.

The upward pelvic thrust in the direction of the turn, relaxes an otherwise tensed lower body, loosen up and unweight both femurs, getting both legs inside the new turn in the best position possible, the most natural and expeditious way.

Pelvic thrust is the ticket to all challenging turns and the remedy against “lazy skiing”!

How did these Woodstock guys vote?

Next summer will be the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock music festival and when I look at the pictures I can't help but think, who among the festival attendees that were still alive and could vote on November 2016, cast their ballot for Trump.

I think more than most of us might think. Okay, I venture a number; 35% of the eligible voters.

What's your guess?

Powder, the ultimate “lubricant”!

In Utah, when we think “powder” we often think, deep, light snow. Yet, just 5 inches of new powder often is a game changer!

A new layer of powder erases the terrain irregularities, enhances the glides, absorb the shocks, muffles the noise, giving us a boost of confidence and making much better skiers out of all of us.

It works just like a fine lubricant and turn those of us who can't crank a turn into ski gods and goddesses.

As we say in Park City, every inch helps, and it sure does. It transforms what could be a struggling day on the boards into a divine one. There's no lubricant like some new, fresh powder!

The end of Utah's interconnected resorts?

On Monday, we skied Solitude, a small ski resort nestled in Big Cottonwood Canyon, next to Brighton another small ski area.

It's almost one hour drive from our Park City home, yet, it's a stone's throw away from Park City Mountain.

Until recently, I was hoping that we could connect Utah's three canyons, but not that Alterra and Vail Resorts have divided the pie through alliances and acquisitions this dream is gone, I'm afraid to say, forever!

Better insure your health!

American healthcare isn't cheap, but it's outrageously expensive if one isn't insured. Just look at the summary below:

It's my billing details for one and a half day at the Park City Hospital, including a night stay, a cat scan and a few other medical procedures, back in May following my bike accident.

The hospital billed my insurance for $13,494.20, but was only allowed to receive $2,349.25 from the company. This means that their asking price was almost six times more than reasonable, if we can call “reasonable” the amount charged.

This also suggests that a person without any health insurance would be liable for the full amount billed. Something is very wrong with that picture!

Finding my ski legs again

Early ski season is always fraught with doubts, like “will I remember skiing again?”, that we soon find totally baseless, especially when our first turns generally happen on nice or well prepared snow and on easy runs.

What's more subtle and insidious however, is the fact that we tend to behave a bit “lazily” when we begin skiing under more challenging conditions.

That's when things don't work too well and we think “I don't quite have have my ski legs yet”, when in fact we bank in order to turn or take other technical shortcuts to evolve on tricky terrain.

We simply need to remember that on tough terrain technique remains king and that we better pay attention – again!

Is Mormonism a Cult?

A few nights ago, at Christmas Party, I was talking to a couple of Brits who moved to Park City 15 years ago. After discussing our embattled president, the subject turned to religion and of course Mormonism that is so close to our daily lives.

They said “this is a cult”. I had forgotten about that label, but after thinking it over, I must agree that our local “religion” is just like these many new movements that have taken roots in in America in a recent past, like Scientology and the like. Mormonism offers metaphysical revelations impossible to substantiate in an age of enlightenment.

Of course, the recipe's success requires a charismatic founder gutsy enough to preach an absurd message while keeping a straight face. Furthermore, the leadership keeps on exercising utmost control upon its faithfuls by systematically brainwashing young kids and their parents, bullying, and other shaming techniques to get and retain full control.

The same leadership will get right into its flock's personal, social and working life, all the way to wardrobe recommendations.

For the creed to succeed, indoctrination is intense, doesn't allow any dissent and those who disagree or threaten the movement are not just apostates, but dangerous individuals that must be shunned.

This often leads to family splits, including spousal or children estrangement and even suicide. Given how the spiritual life wraps up a person, those who dare to leave have much to lose and the majority stays put.

All these symptoms point clearly towards assimilating Mormonism to a bona fide cult, not a religion. As I always say: “Religion is irrational, Mormonism is absurd.”

The whippers kept on growing...

At the end of last winter season, I was complaining that too many runs at Park City Mountain were invaded by “whippers” and other vegetation. I had suggested that they be mowed down in the fall, but guess what?

They grew just taller this season, making them more dangerous to users.

What does that mean? Very simply that Vail Resorts doesn't think like skiers, but like the bean counters they really are.

A wonderful quote

At Bush's funeral, former U.S. Senator Alan Simpson from Wyoming, delivered an original and spirited eulogy.

Among other comments, and in a jab to Trump, sitting there, he said that former president Bush "never hated anyone. He knew what his mother and my mother always knew: hatred corrodes the container it's carried in."

I loved that quote and I think it can be applied to all kinds of negative emotions like jealousy, resentment or envy.

In fact more generally speaking it should be: “negativity corrodes the container it's carried in”.

One to remember!

A very expensive funeral

Most of a week has been focused on former President Bush passing and funeral ceremonies. It's finally over and I learned yesterday from the Washington Examiner that the cost of the elaborate service and related ceremonies is likely to cost American taxpayers well over half-billion dollars.

A 2008 analysis by the National Taxpayers Union found that one day federal holidays costs $450 million.

Then, there's the rest, like flying former President George W. Bush and other Bush relatives in Air Force One, which made a return flight to Houston on Wednesday at a $2 million cost, or other ceremonial expenses like the 21-plane military fly-over estimated at $126,000.

Further, there are other and more significant hidden costs, like those caused by closing the Stock Markets on Wednesday, or the business loss incurred by the U.S. Postal Service during the busy holiday season.

While I realize that a former president of the United States should receive an exceptional funeral, I personally think these costs are well over the top, when perhaps 80% of that outlandish expense could have been channeled to help the Camp Fire victims in California, but again, when our government is one trillion dollars in the hole, what difference can one measly billion make?

Facebook, “Yellow Vests” and effective reforms

It's pretty obvious that Facebook has been a potent tool in channeling the rage of the Yellow Vest movement and that this social swell has been brewing long before the demonstrations have swept all over France.

True or false, Facebook material has “educated” deep France on the social injustice that is part and parcel of the French system, like politician's huge pay, even larger retirement packages and immigrants or low-life citizens taking advantage of a both generous and lax welfare system.

This coupled with low wages, anemic growth, huge unemployment, big tax cuts for the rich and an unsustainable luxurious safety net have exploded into despair, calls for the current government to get out of the way or even someone like Donald Trump to take over the country.

Clearly, the French quagmire will be hard to fix. From my remote viewpoint, I feel that there are many areas where the French government should begin to act.

Like policing its generous welfare to combat widespread abuse, quit encouraging large families (in developed countries, one kid should be the norm, without worrying about labor needs at a time when a robotic tidal wave is ready to inundate the work place), ask for medical co-pays to control healthcare costs, raise taxes on the super rich and get rid of stupid laws like the 35 hour work week. Will this solve all problems?

Certainly not, but it will prepare my countrymen to make the real sacrifices all developed nations will have to accept sooner than later.

At any rate, the last thing the Yellow Vests want is a leader like Trump!

California vs. Utah snow

A few days ago, I got that message from Mike, a friend of mine who lives near Mammoth Mountain, in California: “I hope this storm hits you we got a ton of snow out of it and more coming this week, top now has 70 inches..”

I responded: “We've got some, but certainly not 70 inches. In Utah, the Mormon Church is taking a HUGE cut our of our precipitations”.

Well, as some of you may know, my reply wasn't so far fetched. Not only do the Mormons interfere daily in our State government, by being oblivious about the separation of church and state, but they like to put their fingers everywhere they can.

For instance, you may know that in Utah, we have what's called “The Greatest Snow on Earth”.

I gave the scientific explanation for that remarkable feature six years ago in that blog, but in retrospect, I suspect that being so good with magic and supra-natural phenomenons, the Mormon Church actually got some contract to purifies the snow that gets into Utah from California, by drying it up so much that it eventually becomes the greatest on earth.

They probably get some money out of doing this, since they're the best at separating people from their money, so it must be the same between the heavy California snow (aka Sierra Cement) and the moisture they get out of it.

What do they do with the left-overs? Three point two degree beer and of course they sell and ship the rest of the snow to nearby Colorado...

Winning through Belief and Determination

Conventional wisdom had made us believe that Marcel Hirscher was unbeatable.

Well it took someone like Germany's Stefan Luitz to end the Austrian's three-year winning streak, occasionally broken by the French Team (Pinturault 8 times, Fanara and Faivre once each).

Luitz gave us a breathtaking demonstration of what can happen when a racer is determined beat Hirscher under weird and difficult racing conditions.

This is without mentioning the fact that the German racer wasn't just claiming his first World Cup podium and World cup win, but also that it happened less than one year after tearing his ACL.

What an impressive achievement!

If were President of the USA...

Trump has been a fan of “executive orders” and if I were to be president of the USA, I would too, but in a limited fashion. Not many areas, but two would get my attention and be candidates for executive orders:

• First, the country would go Metric. 
• Second, I'd remove “In God we trust” from our pieces of monetary currency. 

This would be expensive, but worth it and wonderful as well, except that I wouldn't be able to be president; I wasn't born in the United States!

Why I love snow removal

Second only to skiing, removing snow from around my home is my preferred winter activity. I like it for several reasons.

First, when there's snow to clear, there's good skiing to be had, and that's paramount to a ski-addict like me.

Second, it's a very concrete task. You begin with a space that is filled with snow and you liberate it from that invading white stuff. At the end, you can see and measure what has been done. There are few paid jobs left in this world that we are willing to do and that let you get that kind of satisfaction.

Finally, for perfectionists like me, it's another chance to act on my obsessive compulsive disorder, and strive for doing the best job possible and this is worth all its weight... in snow moved around!

The Best President

Since we arrived in America, in 1977, we have been under the rule of seven Presidents. Often time, my wife and I have discussed and try to determine, whom of these seven men has been the best leader and has done the best job. 

• The clear winner always seem to be George H.W. Bush who passed away yesterday. This is on account of his integrity, humility and common-sense. He was able to make some tough decisions (like a tax hike) even though it would cost him a second-term. 
• In second, comes Obama with his bright intellectual capacities, great speeches, but unfortunately his inability to “walk the talk” and make hard, courageous decisions (Syria is one sad example). 
• Third could be Reagan, among the President-Celebrity generation (including Clinton, Obama and Trump). Entertaining personality but below-average intelligence, poor leadership and fiduciary qualities. 
• Forth in our eyes is Clinton. We never voted for the man as we couldn't quite trust him. A consummate showman and politician. 
• Fifth, is Carter who meant well, but had no idea what he was doing. He was lucky to compete against Gerald Ford who wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. 
• Sixth, would be George W. Bush, the idiot and war criminal who started the Iraq war, didn't take care of Afghanistan and beside the thousands of deaths he's responsible for, cost the country trillions of dollars. 
• Finally, in Seven position is Trump, whom I arbitrarily assigned a negative value. 

 All things being equal, how would your ranking differ from mine?

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?”