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!

End of summer?

When mid-August rolls around, summer is on its way out in Park City.

After a record hot summer, we're so relieved to rediscover cooler days, cold nights and the contact of jeans back on our legs.

Don't get me wrong; the sun continues to be warm, but not as stinging as it used to be between June 15 and August 15. T

here's no question that Fall is in the air, and no one complains about it in our household!

Crazy Rich Asians?

Early this week we saw “Crazy Rich Asians”, a comedy about a young Chinese-American lady accompanying her boyfriend to his best friend's wedding in Singapore.

Along the way, she learns that the young man's family is extremely wealthy and that he's considered one of the country's most eligible bachelors. It's a very well put-together story about mega-money, envy, and manipulative family relationships.

Besides the excellent story and cinematography, it's a tale about the evil of money and why some idiots in this country, or on this planet, who still dream of becoming billionaires are grossly misguided.

My advice to you is to go see this superb movie but don't set your sights too high on making too much money.

Remember that money is like power: “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely!”

Testing a Tesla

Yesterday, I finally test-drove a Tesla. Not a large and expensive “S” model, but just a smaller “3”.

My first impression in getting inside what how minimalist everything was. No dials, no buttons, just a large screen that does everything, but provides for an intimidating the overall impression, at least at first sight.

Once inside, fully strapped, adjusted and behind the wheel, the first impression I got, as I engaged the car into drive, was the total silence and when we climbed the freeway ramp, the acceleration was out of my slow world.

The car handled beautifully, the seat was very comfortable and I liked the car a whole lot. I was disappointed that the car wasn't a hatchback like the “S”, but that not a big deal.

Will it become my next set of wheels? Quite probably, but I still want to think a little about it.

An instant purchase for such a big ticket-item wouldn't be me!

Envy vs. Jealousy

I've never really paid much attention about the difference between envy and jealousy. Let's say that I vaguely assumed that envy was a more desirable, rather acceptable, form of jealousy until I dug more seriously into the subject.

According to psychologists - not dudes like me - envy happens when we're desiring an object or attribute enjoyed by someone else. On the other hand, jealousy rears its ugly head when something we already enjoy, like a special relationship, is threatened by a third party.

As a result, envy involves two parties while jealousy is a three-party situation. Envy is a reaction to missing an object or an attribute. Jealousy is a reaction to the menace of losing something (usually someone).

Like most people, the reason I got all mixed up with the two meanings, is that there's a huge confusion with the word “jealousy”, but not the word “envy”.

Many people say they feel jealous of their neighbor's Porsche when they should be just envious. Being jealous is only applicable if your spouse dances with someone that is overtly flirting.

Now, I'm no longer envious of folks who know the difference between the two words!

Change is hard to digest

This weekend, the editorial of the Park Record, Park City's own newspaper, was lamenting about the departure of Deer Valley's general manager Bob Wheaton and all the uncertainty his departure was creating.

Well, Park City resorts were always run by conservative companies that didn't want to push the envelope or innovate much, until Vail Resorts entered the scene as it purchased Park City Mountain a few years ago.

Add to this the fact that the now aging “Baby Boomer” were at the helm of Park City's renaissance from a dying mining town into a fast developing ski resort and it's now time for that generation that feel so “special” and irreplaceable to make room for the younger ones.

Yet, this change seems to create much pain and reluctance from those who, until now, were running the show. My old contemporaries aren't the fair players they ought to be as they still believe they're the best and are entitled to lasting forever.

Get a life, baby boomers, embrace change and please pass the baton!

The Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal

On the day of the Assumption of Mary, a grand jury report announced that internal documents from six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania showed that more than 300 "predator priests" have been accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 child victims since 1947.

This one was just outrageous, capping an incessant series of scandals and cover-ups. Public awareness of sexual abuse of children by the Catholic clergy in North America began in the late 1970s and the 1980s, as the result of a growing awareness of physical abuse of children in society.

What's amazing is that if Catholic institutions in North America, Australia, Ireland and South America seem to have been notorious for their abuse of kids, non Anglo-Saxon communities of Europe, like France, Italy, Portugal or Spain seem to have remained sheltered from the high rate of cases observed elsewhere.

Is it because priests in the countries are much better behaved or educated than in America? I seriously doubt it. On the contrary, I believe that the mechanisms of suppression in these mostly Catholic countries are much more forceful, the respective governments are enablers, and all are keeping a very tight lid on these kinds of scandals.

It's true that while I was an altar boy in France for about 6 years, I worked under two priests that were beyond reproach, but my case might have be an exception rather than a rule, and I know people that, under different circumstances, didn't have my chance.

What do you think?

Changing of the guard at Deer Valley

As always happens after a take-over, there's first a quiet time for evaluating the new acquisition's performance, before making any change in leadership.

It was no different after Deer Valley's purchase by Alterra last year. A few days ago, Bob Wheaton, following almost four decades of employment at Deer Valley and its general manager for 30 years, stepped out and will be replaced by Todd Shallan, a hospitality professional, with previous experience with KSL Capital Partners one of the founding partners of Alterra.

In the right spot at the right time, Wheaton became general manager in 1988, executing Edgar Stern's vision for a ski resort with improved food and skier services, but disallowing snowboarding or any terrain park.

A formula targeted to please the early baby-boomer generation that recently began to become a dying breed. A lift-operator at heart, Bob Wheaton always made sure that all his ski lifts didn't squeak and were kept in pristine conditions.

After Edgar Stern's passing 10 years ago, Deer Valley while keeping to its founder's business model, made the surprising acquisition of Solitude Mountain Resort, and today, Alterra stands ready to update the resort's 40 years-old way of doing things.

At the same time, Wheaton will enjoy a well-deserved retirement, harvesting hay and brushing his horses at his nearby Woodland ranch!

Cool American skiers, 1963 style

I subscribe to “Skiing History”, a nice magazine about skiing over the years.

In this month issue, there was an old ad that ran in 1963 about the soft-drink 7Up, featuring two couples of skiers partying in some mountain chalet, after a day on the slopes.

The ad is pretty cliché for the times, somewhat innocent, a bit naive, and a far cry from today's sophistication, snob appeal and other elitist aspects that now permeate and degrade our contemporary skiing culture.

Skiers then didn't know what “Polar Fleece” was, they still wore wool knit sweaters, autographing casts was the right thing to do, one could cook a cheese fondue on the floor without raising eyebrows and rinse the meal down with 7Up's magic!

Lodging on the cheap?

Cost of real estate and housing in ski resorts is outrageous and a growing scourge before the next crash comes around the corner.

Now, there is expensive and crazy expensive, and this will be my story for the day. A few evenings ago, as my wife and I were strolling in our neighborhood we saw a “for rent” sign next to a smaller house.

The price wasn't listed but was available on Zillow.com, a real estate website. When I checked it out, I wasn't quite sure about the number I had read. It simply was more than two times the going rate!

We were quite familiar with this type of house, that wasn't quite the 2,000 sf (186 m2) advertised, but more like 1,900 sf (177 m2) and the rental asking price was then $6,950 a month (6 125 euros). It's since been reduced to $6,500 (5 730 euros) but the owner forgot to update the same amount stated in the body copy.

Zillow estimates that it should only be around $2,600 (2 290 euros), but the actual market value is more like $3,200 (2 820 euros).

The ad copy further threatens that if the owner doesn't get a taker at his price, the house will be sold. He even goes on a limb by claiming that “the home appraises at $1.2 million (1,057 million euros)” when it could sell for $900,000 (793 000 euros) at the very most.

Seems like everyone wants to follow the example of integrity set by Mr. Trump, the famous billionaire real estate mogul!

Shopping for passports

If you don't like where you live, have a thirst for adventure that is insatiable, or are just some oligarch, you might want to consider purchasing a passport or looking for permanent residency in other places that you find more attractive.

The prices vary widely, so do the number of countries where the passports-for-sale are accepted without an entry visa.

Some countries, like Canada, were trailblazers in that business, but in 2014, have rescinded their CAN$800,000 entry-fee for permanent residency; today, only Quebec still accepts it, with a few strings attached.

In the United States, a foreigner investing $500,000 in a project that will create at least 10 jobs can apply for a green card. It takes some time but was worth the money until Trump got elected.

The next most attractive options are Malta and Cyprus. They're expensive, but good values as they open up access to the rest of the European Community.

No, I haven't seen any Zimbabwe or Venezuelan passports for sale yet, but it's only a matter of time!

Ash every day!

For devout Catholics, there's Ash Wednesday, but for Park City folks like us, there's Ash Everyday.

A few blogs ago, I was a bit mistaken by qualifying our gray, smokey skies as filled with micro-particles coming from California.

I'm certain they were lots of them, but what I manage to overlook all that ash that was filling our skies and the matter is so visible with the naked eye that we aren't talking just about “particulates”, these are gross, macro-particles, aka ash.

My wife reminded me of the presence of that smokey residue when she pointed it out to me peppering our redwood deck with ash flakes.

These little dirty buggers had traveled between 700 and 800 miles to somehow lend on our property. Tiny things travel far!

The dawning of the age of prudence

Recently, (in fact, ever since I've been retired), I have experienced a number of accidents that have taught me some invaluable lessons about personal preservation.

What some could have mistaken for some form of death-wish on my part, has progressively morphed into a milder case of searching for the adrenaline rush.

As my time on this planet is running out, I'm suddenly valuing a healthy body much more than before and would like to make it last as long as it reasonably can.

Getting to my seventies has finally ushered me into the age of prudence and measured thrills.

Stopping doing something we love, just because it's dangerous, should never be up for negotiation, and we can keep on doing activities we love for as long as we can, by gradually reducing their intensity.

It's called being more careful.

Practice, the ultimate school

I spent the larger part of my Saturday helping my son hang a brand-new front door.

He had already gotten some practice the weekend before, when he performed the same task on a smaller entry-door and had, in the process, learned some valuable lessons by running into unforeseen problems and making a few mistakes.

Even though most of the rough job (before insulating, finishing and trimming) took us a good 6 hours, we avoided all the pitfalls that took him 11 hours the weekend before.

A simple reminder that practice truly makes perfect and is a necessary step on the way to quality work. Don't we all need to be reminded of that?

Unexpected encounter

Yesterday morning, I went hiking from Empire Pass to Jupiter Peak, the summit overlooking Park City.

The last section of the peak ascent is a narrow ridge with loose shale, that requires a bit of scrambling and that's bordered on one side by a nasty cliff.

As I was where the arrow is placed on the picture, I was startled by two mountain-bikers coming out of nowhere and barreling down the ridge.

I instinctively stepped aside but the two dare-devils didn't even slow down as they passed me.

I thought to myself, these two guys are playing with fire and will soon learn how it feels when their tender skins hit the rocks!

Why facing reality can be so hard?

It happens all the time; when confronted with a crisis of any kind, many folks seem to be frozen in place, as if, for some mysterious reasons, a crisis that often is of their own making, can magically dissolve into thin air.

Needless to say that I don't subscribe at all to this approach and always prefer an hands-on, proactive response, to taking a pause, waiting for a miracle and hope for the best. The later philosophy seldom happens to bear any good fruits.

Of course, I won't mention the litany of excuses that we hear, like “it's not my fault”, “it's not that bad” or even “this isn't fair”. I'm not suggesting that jumping over a fresh crisis and attempting to control it is always the best possible response, but it most cases it still remains the best approach.

Then the next question is, why do people let things go south? My guess is that in many situations, their ego gets in the way of good judgment and they'd prefer to have the situation remain hidden from public view while it's still rotting than looking bad for fear of being associated with it.

What's your take on this?

Utah's weather factoids

Park City has had to endure a very dry weather so far. We have had just 5 hours of rain since the end of May. This said, I always claimed that we get 250 days without any precipitations in a year, but I've never counted them.

I know stand corrected: I just counted the days we had without precipitation during the entire year of 2017 and I get 214 full sunny days, 19 partially sunny (yeah, some big clouds) and 31 days overcast. This amount to a whopping 264 days, with just 101 days of precipitation (snow and rain combined).

Am I right to say that in the meantime, Chamonix had exactly the reverse, namely 115 days of sun vs. 250 days of precipitations?

Maybe, as no one has taken the pain and time to count and compare them. What's for sure is that in 2017, Chamonix only claimed 85 day of “full sun”, while Park City received 214 of them.

The only thing seriously counted in Europe are “hours of sunlight”. In that specific category, Park City still beats Chamonix by 1,000, with 3,035 hours for the Utah resort vs. 2,030 for “Cham” as folks there call it.

Further, in that hourly ranking, Park City is at par with the sun-drenched French cities of Marseille, or Ajaccio, Napoleon's birthplace, in Corsica. Now, time to go in the shade!

Still mountain-biking at 70!

Ever since I crashed on my road bike, I was longing for getting out on fat tires, albeit with some anxiety, and on top of that had always promised myself to still mountain-bike after I turned 70.

So, yesterday afternoon, while the thermometer was inching close to hell and 80 degrees (27 C), I straddled my ancient mountain-bike and got going on my routine trail.

Once I got to the top, I realized that I still had the stamina to get there, and the descent went a bit slower than usual, but without a hitch.

I had just broken the spell, I had found out that age was grossly overrated and I'm now ready for more fat-tire fun as soon as the temperatures cool off a bit.

That sounds about right; I've extended my contract!

Ah, these fine particles!

If it's impossible to perceive fine pollution particles individually, it's enough to take a look at Park City's mountain views these days.

They're all blurry looking as if it were drizzling all over, but the weather in the Rocky Mountain region is staying stubbornly dry with perhaps only 5 hours of steady rain since the end of May. In the meantime, the entire West Coast is burning.

As of yesterday, there were more than 40 major fires from California, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Washington that are converging over Park City and can clearly - pardon the pun - be attributed to our smoky views out.

Unlike last September, it's just the smoke without the acrid smell of burnt trees and grass, but this might come before it's all over. In the meantime, we keep on breathing these fine micro-particles, day in, day out, not quite certain that they're also killing us, slowly I hope!

Start-up, the French way

A few evenings ago, I was watching a French TV news magazine, that was showing, among other things, some French start-up companies dealing with online sales. They were two elements that struck me.

First, my former countrymen don't necessarily seek the 30,000 feet view to begin a business but seem fairly happy to get their hands on tiny business concepts that often are challenging, if not impossible to scale and grow.

It seems as if, they wanted to start a business, just for the sake of being into one, but in total disregard for its growth and profit potential. In contrast, the American entrepreneur first considers growth potential and scalability, will begin by going out to fund their venture so it can be revved up quickly to a sustainable level.

The second element that I noticed, is the culture, that is typically French, making use of technology tools in a very special, seemingly amateurish way and, again, preferring to focus on small, micro-details instead of looking at business as a general and generic endeavor.
 
Perhaps the common denominator of my two observations is that American always see “big” and super efficient, while French see business in a more accessible mode, that must remains fun and social.

Business, like the many other human endeavors, remains, most of the time, marked by its local cultural traits!

Let's protect our wildlife!

If you've traveled on the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park, you've seen these huge wooded wildlife overpasses that are said to have decreased collisions with animals by some 80 percent.

The Interstate 80 that connects New York to San Francisco, runs by Park City and, according to what I've recently read, has seen some 106 fatal accidents in the area, over a two-year period, that included 98 deer, 3 moose, 2 elk, 2 raccoon, and 1 cougar, all struck and killed by cars and trucks.

This continued slaughter has caused a public call for improvements — and the Utah Department of Transportation responded by building its first-ever bridge just for wildlife at the top of Parley Summit, (elevation 7,129 feet).

Now, since wildlife can't read road signs, how will they use that bridge? Apparently, the animals won’t have much choice, as 8-foot-tall wildlife fences have been placed on both sides of the bridge and the freeway on a stretch of about 3.5 miles, on both sides of the freeway.

This fencing will funnel the animals to the other side of the road over the bridge, keeping up with their specific migration patterns.

The new $5 million bridge is 330 feet long and 48 feet wide. This might seem expensive, but based on the above numbers, it should pay for itself in less than 12 years in terms of vehicle damage; I know what I'm talking about as I have hit 3 deer over a 20 year period.

The job will be completed before winter, so expect to see far less roadkill littering the interstate starting in 2019!

Crank and spare wheel

Not so long ago, I stopped at our Tesla dealership to check out their new car and when I opened the rear trunk (yeah, there's a front trunk too in that auto) I realized that there was no spare tire.

I was a bit shocked to see a car manufacturer get away with it, but after researching the issue a bit further, I found out that today, in the United States, one third of the new cars are sold without a spare tire, to save both money and weight.

Such cars are equipped with a sealant, have “run-flat tires” or require that you call your roadside service, I guess. I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea one bit.

This transported me back in the days when I drove a Citroën 2cv that came equipped with a crank to start it when the battery was dead. When European car makers began placing their engines transversely in the 60s, that too brought the life of the old crank to an end.

Motorists weren't happy then, just like they aren't today!

“Dead Heads” never die!

At the last outdoor concert in Deer Valley, we listened to Aiko, a band of musical brothers founded in Nashville, Tennessee in1984, in the spirit of the Grateful Dead.

The band gets a huge following, just as the famous band, by the same “Dead Heads”, a uniquely American phenomenon.

These are the same fans that, since the 1970s, have traveled to see the band perform in as many shows or festival venues as they possibly could.

Wednesday night was no different, as a huge fan crowd was jamming along, in full communion with the band, to the tunes of the Grateful Dead.

What was remarkable was to see the average age of that crowd, most of them in their 50s to late 70s, some of them barely able to walk, yet still trying to go to the front of the stage and dance, in a certain way, collectively expressing a Baby Boomers' last hurrah.

Will that special generation ever die?

How to engage political adversaries

Political polarization is actively discouraging constructive discussions among people who are standing on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum and ends up encouraging isolation and breaking what could have been neighborly and friendly relationships.

Faced with this, there's only one way to constructively deal with it: Discuss it head-on, in a civil, smart and cool way.

Generally, I have a tough time with this approach because I'm so emotional that I tend to get hot around the collar too fast and for no good reason. This is an area where I must improve by bringing more self-control to the situation.

Another place where I need to get my act together, is by convincing through hard facts, common-sense reasoning and a disarming sense of humor. We'll revisit the issue when I have improved and have a developed a good strategy.

In the meantime, I seriously need to work on it!

Regret-free decisions

Have you ever made a decision you would sooner or later regret having made? If you haven't you're lucky; many other people have.

What's funny is that in the decision-making process, countless techniques are available to us, starting with the famous Ben Franklin's “T-Chart” and going to a host of different schemes dealing with mathematical or scientific approaches, mostly focused on the pragmatic side of decision-making.

What's conspicuously absent in that process though, is what I'd call the “Regret-Factor”. It works just like this: Ask yourself if I make (or do not make) that decision, will I ever regret it?

• This can be expressed in time: sooner or later. 
• In intensity: Will I suffer from it, will it be mild, will it tear me apart? 
• In opportunities: Was it the only shot I had at it or will it ever come again? 
• In a question of life or death (serious!) 
• In a matter of pride, joy or shame, etc. 

So, next time you get organized to make a decision, no matter what method you use, leave some decent room for the Regret-Factor. I guarantee that you won't regret it!