I remember telling my kids on several occasions that they had to do something they love to be happy during their lives, but don’t exactly remember that I admonished them that they could do anything they set their mind to accomplish if they were willing to put the necessary work out and make the required sacrifices.
My parents certainly didn’t share any two these advice with me because the concept was alien to them and no one, for sure, educators or otherwise, ever shared that possibility with them.
The importance of working hard and conforming to the path that seemingly had been assigned to us was the only elements we were taught to me during my developing years.
So yes, I regret not having forcefully told my kids to dare being the person they wanted to be, no matter what the cost was, from the time they were mature enough to understand.
Today, in retrospect, I would have loved to having found strong mentors along the way, but it’s too late now, yet it’s a good enough thing that I’m aware of the importance of good guidance and good role models.
I can now impart that knowledge whenever I am given the opportunity and this is what should be called progress in our society.
It’s amazing how just a few inches of new snow can change everything!
After removing the snow around the house, breaking a safety pin on my snowblower, because I always want to get too close to the rocky edge of my driveway and never remember what a pain it is to put back on, I went skiing and had a wonderful time.
I remembered to be light on the snow, to limit my efforts as much as I could and glide over the snow like the very young man I once was, and I skied ten times better than the day before. In case we sometime forget, we should definitely remember that we have some very good and some terrible ski days.
Yesterday when one of those days when I couldn’t crack a good turn. The snow was good though, the visibility okay, but my whole body wasn’t with it.
Apprehension, lack of momentum, just a bad day I guess, contributed to make me ski like the old man I now have become.
Not a good feeling, but one to accept, absorb and take in stride. I’ll just add it to a huge number of fabulous ski day. I can only do much better tomorrow.
Do we have a mind and then a body or is it one single entity, as a fusion of the two? Not so long ago, I was discussing soul vs. mind and came to the conclusion that they were one and the same.
Today, if I consider body and mind, I pose the question, are they separate or are they one and the same? Meditation makes believe that it’s the later. When I meditate, I feel that mind and body meld and that they become inseparable. I’m not the only one to think that way.
Psychologists believe that we should only be concerned with "observable actions", namely stimulus and response. They also believe that thought processes such as the mind cannot be studied scientifically and objectively and should therefore be ignored as independent elements.
The idea is also shared by biologists who argue that the mind does not exist because there is no physical structure behind it. For them the brain is in fact the mind with all its structures, cells and neural connections.
There’s a name for that view of the human body, and its Monism (as opposed to Dualism that affirms the separation of mind and body). Monism affirms that ultimately mind and brain are the same thing.
This makes me feel good that I’m not the only one thinking that way.
I had decided to take my light, rock skis that day, and when I placed them on my car rack, I noticed that the tip of the toe binding platform was raised and a further observation showed me that the screws were pulled out.
That had already happened on the other ski and I had resolved the problem with “Helicoids”, special brass insert that could be forced into the enlarged binding hole. I removed the defective pair and took my “good” skis instead.
When I went to repair the damaged binding platform, I noticed that the previous Helicoid repair was also pulling out.
So I went on to repair both skis. I then realized that the flimsy, plastic plates, holding the toe and heel units inside their rails were held by what looked more like machined screws than wood ones and the grip of their shallow threads inside the hole wasn’t positive enough to prevent an eventual pull out, especially as, for unknown reasons, the tread was all corroded in these front screws.
This is further a problem as these lightweight skis have no binding insert, either in metal of phenol, to grab into the screws. I added two old-style binding screws in the front of the plate and I was done.
Hopefully, this will last the remainder of the life of these rock skis that have already more than 220 days of use!
Since the beginning of the season, I’ve been skiing some 45 times and have had a chance to see how well the Covid-19 rules were observed by users and enforced by lift employees.
By and large, the bigger danger seems to prevail in lines that are long and slow. No one seems to respect the 6 feet distance and it’s not rare to see people with their mask down or lots of noses sticking out.
The masks themselves are of all kinds, materials and shapes, from the balaclava to the traditional blue face mask, including some that are just designed for thermal facial protection, with opened nostrils or loose knit or polar fleece face gaiters.
Some lifties are doing a good job at enforcing the mask rule, some don’t seem to care or are tired of having to repeat the same thing over and over. Nothing is really consistent and efficiency appears to varies greatly.
On the lift, the one foreign-person mandatory space on chairs seem to work and I have not ridden gondola enough to witness what was going on, but suffice to say that I’ve seen folks pulling their masks down while riding chairlifts and when they’re around the parking lot.
Groups of young people become automatically members of the same family, especially on powder days that have been so rare this season! So overall, my grade for safety is fair at best.
You can say what you want about the fresh, cold and clean outside air, I don’t think our mountain skiing environment is one-hundred percent safe when it comes to this pandemic!
I was around 50 also when losing my job happened to me. A pretty harsh blow at a critical age.
Recently, a former neighbor of mine just fell in that predicament, and after talking to him to understand what his situation and options really were, I tried to discuss with him what his next steps could be.
That’s when I came up with this guide that might help him as he further moves along in his quest for re-invention, if it were. First, what’s crucially important is to take stock of one professional and personal assets and list them so they’re always present and in stay in prominent view.
The next one is to work on a new résumé (more than a simple update) that will sell and tell the potential of that person rather than focusing on the mere story of their career. It must also be told from the reader (the employer) standpoint and address their needs and wants.
These two first steps can be melded into a strong LinkedIn page and should be started immediately in the process, as they are the first priority. The next one is to ideally re-activate, activate or create a network of references that will help the job-seeker with opportunities that can come to that network’s attention. That’s of course is another key priority.
Following that, the individuals must ask themselves a very important question; “What’s my passion?”, that is, if money, family considerations, location were no object. The answer to that question must be extremely sincere and if necessary be kept within the sole individual’s intimate knowledge.
That will help explore a number of options:
Should I keep looking for employment in my industry, a similar one that can easily bridge my know-how, or something radically different?
Do I have the audacity to do it, what will happen if my attempt fails?
What’s my window of time?
How many year do I have to work before retirement or choosing to take time for myself in my later years?
Then come some other major interrogations. Do I want to keep a salaried position, be an independent contractor in my trade or start my own business and be ready to pay the price for it?
Eventually, these questions will get resolved as time go by, as search results for a job can serve as indicators, and as individuals will learn and evolve in their definition of what’s their best next step…
Fifty years ago, I had the most fascinating year in my life.
That was the year I passed my French Ski Instructor first major certification and had super social fun at Avoriaz, France, where I taught skiing.
Then I went on to Australia that summer to teach some more skiing, sailing half-the world over to six weeks, filled with the greatest adventures, traveled through North America on the way back, for the first time, thus completing my first around-the-world voyage.
Then, I began building my first home and went on to lead a revolution at the ski school by the end of the year.
Rock skis are the closest thing to zombism there is.
They must be the equivalent of zombies as far as skis are concerned and skiers have to be careful how they approach them, think about them and handle them.
Case in point: A few days ago, as I was skiing with my grandson, I decided to get my “good” skis instead of their “rock” counterparts and we ended up skiing in places that were chock-full-or-rocks, and in the process, we both ruined our otherwise good skis.
I can’t help but suspect that, jealous and left in my garage, the rock-skis engineered this edge-and-base massacre.
Another example: I just had the edges sharpened on my rock skis to get a semblance of “hold” over hard snow and guess what? They still refuse to get a grip as if their dull edges were resurrecting every time I found myself on treacherous terrain.
That would prove, if anything, that there’s no redemption once boards have graduated to some “rock” status, their soul is eternally compromised!
As a public company, Vail Resorts' quarterly update, published on January 18, is a good indicator about how bad this early winter has been hindered by the pandemic.
We must be keep in mind several factors. The main one seems to be Covid-19’s restrictions on lift capacity, lack of access to Whistler by non-Canadians, less visits in general and below-normal snow cover across many of VR's Western resorts that all contributed to the drop observed.
In terms of skier-days, these dropped 17% through the Holidays, with the biggest declines were felt in Whistler, Lake Tahoe area, and Vermont.
Lift tickets revenue were down by 21% while food and beverage (mostly on-mountain) down 66% as skiers avoided restaurants.
As anticipated, ski school revenue were down by a huge 53%, and retail/rental activity was down by 39%. Lodging revenue was down as well by 55% which seems enormous, and wasn’t reflected everywhere, including Park City that overall, was in the 20% range.
It’s been a year yesterday that I embarked on the path of meditating everyday, and it has worked.
Sure, it’s hard to measure in conventional, existing units, how that new regimen may have benefited me, but let me say that it hasn’t hurt me a bit. I can say that the benefits of meditation on my life are many.
For one thing, it has provided me with a serene, positive and peaceful environment during all the time it last. I can also say that it has enhanced my memory in small ways, yet still noticeable enough to warrant mentioning it.
I must also mention that the total relaxation that goes on with meditation on a daily basis, allows me to monitor my health as I am able to feel it physicaly. An excellent way to anticipate detectable health problems!
Most importantly though, it has boosted my creativity by an appreciable margin.
What effect has it had on my overall behavior and demeanor? I guess it has brought me more self-control and calmed me a little bit more, quality that could use some harnessing.
All these improvements are very well worth 30 to 45 minute of quality-meditating time daily, and I’m now hooked on that practice!
In case you don’t remember or know what a haiku is, it’s a Japanese form of poem, in just three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and again, five in the third.
My interest was picked, when Michel Duret, a good friend of mine asked for my opinion about a slogan. In thinking about it, it reminded me of the Japanese haiku, and I thought this is something I should do more of.
Well, we’ll see! As a theme, I’ll do something along the lines of the “Great 2020-2021 ski season paradox” in which France has plenty of good snow, while its ski lift are not running and Utah has no snow, but skiers are piling up on the slopes in large numbers.
Our departing president wasn’t a leader, but a tyrannical bully.
Of course, it’s not more bullies that we need in our complicated lives, it’s more good leaders. Through their ability to work well with others, leaders let their example speak for itself and soon, naturally rally their followers to their cause and to their flanks.
Bullies, on the other hand, only know how to exert domination upon others, use intimidation to show who’s the boss and believe they’re entitled to order others. True leaders have people skills and are capable of empathy towards others. They also know how to motivate their troops, unlike bullies that never hesitate to mock and demean people they don’t like.
Leaders are flexible and smart enough to adapt their communication style to a wide variety of individuals and believe in the abilities of their team members, while bullies only can work with people who worship them and acquiesce to their demands. Besides, bullies hold very low opinions and expectations of everyone but themselves.
Strong leaders also believe in adopting a transparent style of communication and know how to be assertive when they have to. On the other hand, bullies are secretive, aggressive and play people against each others. It’s also fair to say that leaders have high emotional intelligence, while bullies are just the opposite.
I’ll conclude with a quote from former Secretary of State and General Colin Powell: “The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them…” This, of course invites this question: Would you ever think of bringing your problems to a bully?
I recently learned that Donald Trump will leave the White House just hours before Joe Biden’s inauguration this coming Wednesday, hitching one ultimate ride on Air Force One to his very final destination (I would hope), in Florida.
I wish this is true and is not another subterfuge for hiding his second Coup d'État. This said, I still don't quite trust this dubious character with such a big and expensive airplane. I don’t think he deserves to fly on it anymore, but that’s not for me to say.
So I keep my fingers crossed that the aircraft is returned in good enough condition for Biden to continue using it. Trump should fly on Southwest, but this might create some major chaos, so I'd prefer for him to hitch-hike down to sunny Mara Lago.
This mode of transportation is therefore drastically slower, but much more interesting for Trump. He’ll finally discover the joys of road tripping down I-95, and this would go a long way in terms of endearing him even more to his dedicated and loyal base.
It took an assault on the Capitol to hear a little bit more from Christian leaders voicing their disapproval against the mob that invaded it.
Yes, the unruly mob, but not the morally corrupt president who incited them to launch their attack.
All along, none of them has seemed too shocked by Trump’s denial of the election results, his 25,000 recorded lies, or his vile attempt to sway the election results in Georgia, by acting like a pure mafioso.
That says a lot about organized Christian religions in America and their open hypocrisy. Just like the Republican party, these institutions are hanging by a thread and their future isn’t so bright.
There's no question that I love skiing, but I keep on thinking that this sport simply takes too much of my precious time. Of course, I feel that way because quality skiing hasn’t been yet on the agenda this winter, and I’ve become a reluctant skier because of this.
Even though I live in a ski town, it takes me a substantial amount of time from the moment I get decide to go skiing and get off the first lift to slide on my boards.
Just follow me; this include no waiting in lift lines, no incident of any kind and apply to just myself; skiing with other folks cuts into the net skiing time:
Getting dressed, loading equipment in car: 10 minutes
Driving to the resort and finding a parking spot: 10 minutes
Putting on the boots, unloading the equipment: 5 minutes
Walking over to the lift and riding it: 10 minutes
Doing the same on the way back home: 25 minutes
So you have it, it takes me one solid hour for the whole outing, if all goes per plan, for a 2-3 hours worth of actual skiing. So that’s typically one-third to one-quarter of my time out.
Sure if I skied the whole day, it would be less as a percentage of the total time out, but still would be considerable.
One thing is certain, skiing is more complicated that staying home and watching… golf on TV!
The more we advance into the ski season, the more I realize that I’ve never seen anything so bad since I’ve lived in Park City.
Natural snow is badly lacking and since I’m no fan of man-made snow and groomed runs, I’m at a severe loss!
This said, as I was complaining recently about how bad ski conditions were, I said to myself “These difficulties are brought to me to improve my skills and work at gaining mastery over a grim situation...”
Suddenly this realization that had nothing innovative or original in it, changed my complete outlook. “That’s precisely what I’ll do!” I said to myself.
On Wednesday, I went skiing with my grandson; we both had a ball and, in the process I learned a lot of elements that will make me a much better skier and more important, a greater person!
Just keep on trying and never stop believing in scratching treasures out of seemingly scarce resources and diminishing returns.
Wednesday, January 20 is looming large for Donald Trump. Over time, the beleaguered president has tried by hook and by crook to hang on to a second term and as each time he grows more desperate, he gets more daring and reaches for straws if it were.
In my view, he hasn’t given up on hanging on to power and must be planning a better executed Coup than the botched one, on January 6, to achieve that goal. The man is simply evil and his nefariousness is contagious.
As of now, more than 10,000 National Guards will be in Washington that day and it appears that they’ll have to deal with some 4,000 (armed?) Trump supporters that are bent on killing Biden, Harris and Pelosi. By the way, our future President would be well advised to conduct his installation virtually.
There is no question that there will be friction and blood may be spilled and there will be casualties.
How many?
It all depends on the Trump loyalist’s level of aggression, but that second Coup in the making doesn’t bode well for having a celebratory and peaceful day…
During the past Christmas Holidays, I got an email from some unknown Frenchman. He inferred he wanted to get together with me and – I assume – ski; yeah, you guessed it, free instruction!
In it, he said: “I just arrived in Park City with my family for a ski week. I just sent a text to Bruno who told me you lived here. That would be fun to get together. We’re here through December 28.”
I responded that in case he ignored it that we were in the midst of a pandemic and since I’m well over 70, getting together wouldn’t be such a good idea. I then, sent an email to Bruno asking him if that guy was legit, but I have yet to get a response from that former colleague (ski instructor) of mine.
All this to say that this is a recurrent situation, in which some folks are thoughtless enough to give one’s address to a perfect stranger, without asking for authorization, or at the very least warning you that one’s will be contacted by that person. Rude, careless and good recipe for embarrassing everyone.
Last weekend, Arnold Schwarzenegger twitted a video denouncing Trump and the break-in of his loyalists into the Capitol (see below). Even though I’m not a fan of the “Gobernator”, what he said made a lot of good sense, and I passed it on some folks on my list.
Two guys reacted rather negatively and one of them with acerbic violence and threatening tone. Just read it (misspellings included), it shows how crazy and brainwashed millions of Americans have become. These mad folks are in the millions, perhaps 25 millions, according to a recent poll.
I cannot sidestep the email you have sent. This email with Arnold Swartzenaegger. You obbviosly live in the holds of socialism, as you migrated here to the U.S. from France. Unfortunately, France is now moving forward into Socialism, and the goverment is being infiltrated with Muslims, Like the U.K. and now we are facing it here in the United States.
President Trump did not try to overthrow this goverment. It is people like you who voted for the Left Wing Communist regime that is attempting to overthrow our Democracy. You are confused as many people are in this country.
The country was founded by immigrants. We don't need more at this time. We need to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. If you feel that the Constitution is more than you would like to live by, I would suggest that you return to your Father Land. Antifa and BLM are responsible for breaching the U.S. Capital and killing Now, 5 people.
They infiltrated the peaceful march and used the basic rules of Communism written by Sol Alinsky to create havoc and terror in the hearts of many.
Let me say something, and be very clear. I am not afraid of Antifa, BLM or You.
If you are aligning yourself with these communist bastards, know this? I am drawing the line in the sand, I will stand across the scurmish line from you and any other Socialistic Bastard who supports Communism. You are supporting the very type of goverment you moved away from when you decided to move to the USA.
Its not too late.
Sell your property, pay your taxes to Nancy Pelosi and get the hell out of The United States of America. You don't belong here.
An American
John T.
Just like you, I have a “to do” list, and to my dismay, it never fails to get longer instead of staying the same or getting whittled. That’s when I’m asking myself, “What’s going on?”
I have done some research, but my sources give me a plethora of reasons that don’t seem to pinpoint or match my real problems and show where the roadblocks are. That led me to conduct my own evaluation.
Like most people, I’m first attracted by what’s simple, easy and very tangible stuff. I like a sure pay off! Nothing new there. I also have perfectionist tendencies that often time get in the way of my starting a project, make me fear that the outcome isn’t guaranteed and freeze me in place.
Finally, there are all these more complex projects, tasks or undertaking that demand skills I don’t quite have and this scares me as well as giving me anxiety. Nothing terribly impossible, though, so let me roll up my sleeves and let me get to work!
These days we’re learning very fast to be patient, accept and – hopefully – adapt.
These are the needed criteria for our daily survival in a continued crisis that is as mental as well as practical and that span our daily, constricted lives, not to mention some almost unbelievable political events.
We need to open our eyes, dare to stare at the reality around us, see it like it is, assess the situation and make new plans, tune-in new strategies and tactics in order to adapt to the order of the day.
Not a fun game for sure, but a great opportunity to pick up never-used-before skills in order to take us to a next and highly improved level of savvy and skills.
This is the ski season where “rock-skis” shine before they suck.
Whenever I got a chance to ski out of the dreary man-made snow covered “groomers”, I have happily returned on my rock skis.
The problem is that. if these older boards let me go on rocks that I can’t see without cringing and with a kind of impunity, they make my skiing on regular hard-snow soon becomes almost impossible to control and mostly miserable.
To put it positively, these second-class skis make their dulled edges force me to reach for more exceptional skills when I feel that I ski on ball bearings, or to put it more aptly, just like on a wing and a prayer!
As I just predicted, while every one else acted surprised, Trump didn’t waste any time for launching his Coup, except that in pure Donald fashion it was rushed, unprofessionally prepared and ended up being a flash in the pan, before senselessly costing five lives.
The man showed his nefarious potential and a bunch of deplorable did the bidding for him, even though he promised them that he would be leading them to the Capitol.
They should have known better, but years of watching Fox News and listening to Rush Limbaugh had turned all of them, including the largest majority of Republican lawmakers, into blathering imbeciles that we will never forget, nor – I hope – forgive!
People who use a computer, a tablet or a smart phone, sooner or later learn how to send an email or just perhaps a text. With that power come a few responsibilities.
When a message is received from someone you know or respect a tiny bit, I think you should respond to it. I’m not talking about junk, promotional or solicitation messages. Just established person-to-person communication. In a way something like answering a letter received via snail-mail or otherwise.
Sure, if someone can’t or absolutely won’t compose a typed message and respond in that manner there’s the good, old telephone that someone can use.
Example? This summer I notice the obituary of the mother of what I thought was a good friend of mine and I immediately sent a message of condolences; did I get an acknowledgment in the form of a reply or a phone call? Not at all.
A majority of my French friends are the worst offenders; is it in their DNA? So, you see, there’s absolutely no excuse for being a jerk and ignoring emails.
This early part of the ski season has been dismal in terms of natural snow cover. Only runs covered with man-made snow are skiable and in spite of some attempts of opening up the upper terrain, there’s simply not enough snow to allow for good and safe skiing.
If one is audacious enough to venture into wild, natural terrain, the accident is lurking around and makes it not worth to even pursue.
I went a couple of times, with my daughter, to ski 9990, our iconic playground, and the terrain is peppered with rocks, stumps and bushes that makes it more of a trap than a joy.
A few days ago, they closed the hill, probably after logging too many accidents. What’s needed is between two and four feet of snow, but our skies continue to be hopelessly constipated.
As Trump is losing battles and coup attempts, he becomes increasingly desperate and ready for anything really bad. If he could, he would begin a real Coup d’État as a way to become a de-facto American dictator, change the rules, the constitution, and stay in power for as long as he lives, Mugabe-style.
Several scenario comes to mind, some in which he could commandeer the military between now and January 20 and try to call on his supporters, or any alt-right armed insurgents to secure him inside the White House for as long as he breathes.
Since we all think conventionally and follow the lanes, it’s hard for us to imagine what Adolf Trump has in the deep bottom of his nefarious mind, but it certainly isn’t nice and could surprise the most dystopian minds among us.
My grandson is interested by technology and when he skis with me, by all the ski lifts we ride. One day, he asked me how the heating system on one of the chairlift we regularly use, works.
The one in question is at Canyons, in Park City, and has been in operation since 2010. It is also equipped with a protection bubble that can further protect skiers against cold winds, frequent in that area.
Made by Doppelmayr, this chairlift with heated seats has been launched in 2004 and is now in service on over 225 lifts worldwide.
When the chair gets to the bottom station, two power rails bring the electrical current for 15 to 20 seconds, through friction, into the detachable grip assembly, and then to resistances placed inside the seat to warm it temporarily as skiers take place on the chair.
The power flow stops once the chair leaves the station and dissipates into heat through the seating pad that’s heated enough (420 W per seat) to provide the passengers with some comforting warmth through the first few minutes of their trip.
In terms of reliability, we can generously say that the one we regularly ride works 60% of the time, which is better than nothing, but probably not worth the enormous extra expense involved!
The first ski day of the year was looking promising and my daughter and I were looking forward to ski around two new lifts that just opened.
With bluebird skies, everything looked great, until we got to the resort and realized that the lines were out of this world. Something we had rarely seen in Park City!
Brave as always, we managed to stay and went from lift to lift in search of better conditions, but this wasn’t a great ski day.
Concrete-like man-made snow, insufficient natural snow and crowded slopes, that first day of the year was as bad as it could get, but hope is eternal and things will get better from there...
If 2020 didn’t kill us, it sure made us stronger and prepared us well for 2021, no matter what happens next.
We re-learned to be patient, to accept what was presented to u, and adjust our expectations based on what we could control.
With this in mind and strong from this experience, we’ll be better prepared to handle a new year guaranteed to be filled with even more surprises.
Let’s remain positive as we are optimistic and never forget for a moment that we are lucky to be alive and to be part of this planet’s fascinating life!
So, let’s do everything we can to live this New Year to the fullest!
As we leave a challenging and painful 2020, let’s begin 2021 with the quote “It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice.”
This line which says a lot about how we should behave and treat people, is also called an “antimetabole”, a clever literary technique in which a phrase is repeated, but key words are reversed to produce a deeper sense.
It’s been attributed to a lot a famous persons, from tennis champion Roger Federer to the famous investor John Templeton.
Yet, it seems that the guy who invented is is no other than Walter Winchell, a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator, who crafted the expression using “swell” instead of “nice” in 1937.
Our modern society in general, and Trump in particular, overly promotes the value of being important, but when all is said and done, people are remembered for the way they treat others.
What we do everyday to make a difference in someone else's life can add up to huge differences in their lives, whether it’s big or small. It is a truism that helping others makes us feel so much better!
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