Deer-proofing the garden

Following this winter's constant invasion by a small herd of deer, the critters have finally deserted our yard towards greener pastures, and their sights or just tracks have become rarer, yet they still visit sporadically at night. 

This hit me the other day as I noticed two heads of lettuce that I was contemplating to harvest within one or two days, that had been severed and eaten up by a visiting animal. This prompted me to think "fence" and just like Trump with his border wall, I began envisioning some formidable anti-deer fortifications capable of protecting my future harvest. 

So, very quickly a basic, thin and discreet fence grew into a major undertaking that would cost me hundreds of dollars to protect a two or three month supply of lettuce. Adding the high cost of irrigation water to that, I was suddenly looking at some extremely expensive green that made the organic Whole Food offering look like a dirt cheap bargain. 

That's when, just like the Mormon prophets of yesteryear I got a revelation. Over my garage door is a motion-sensor light that activates automatically when it detects the most minute motion. 

So, my thinking instantly shifted to lights and after a rapid online search, I found some spooky looking blinking lights that resembled a pair of terrifying werewolf capable of intimidating the most daring deer living in Park City. 

These head can also be successfully utilized for maximum visual impact on Halloween night. I ordered the devices on the spot and will receive them next week. In a few weeks, I'll let you know if that was the right investment or if I should have built an unassailable fortress to protect my veggies...

Should States sub-contract war?

I never quite understood why Putin had to hire the Wagner group when it had already what the rest of the world thought, the most formidable army around. 

One’s own army seems pretty easy and direct to control as long as a State’s institutions are strong enough, but when a Head of State puts two competing groups as its defense arms, this might be asking for trouble as one will try to surpass the other, and this is not a desired kind of competition in a war situation, like the invasion of Ukraine. 

Further, the “quality of the ingredients” constituting the Wagner group wasn’t the very best, hence it was no surprise to me when Yevgeny Prigozhin began criticizing the Russian Federation for not helping him, for making very bad decisions or shooting his soldiers.

The chicken has simply come hone to roost, exposing Putin second most blatant error of judgment after invading Ukraine. 

I thought Valdimir Putin was much smarter than that, but his actions might betray just another case of the Peter Principle, this management concept, that states that people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence" as they are promoted based on their success in previous jobs until they reach a level at which they are no longer competent, as skills in one job do not necessarily translate to another. 

In Putin’s case it shows that his KGB education might be woefully lacking in common sense and imagination...

ChatGPT vs. Bing

When it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and conveniently accessible public platforms, there are only Bing (Microsoft) and ChatGPT (Open AI) that I know of. 

This is where I’ve been spending some time lately in an effort to evaluate the usefulness, the precision and the accuracy of these two AI tools. So far, I can say that both write pretty well, but can sometime, depending on what they’re fed in terms of instructions, leave the user astray. 

I’m sure in many ways both tools are still “work in progress”, will remain such for a while, but might steadily improve over time. At the moment, though, they still need quite a bit of work in terms of verification, editing and additional research. As I said above, they can, at time, be dead-wrong, so user beware...

No, in spite what you might read on the above illustration, I’m not using and don’t plan to sue either one of them to write this blog!

Repulsive task?

For a long time, months, I should say, I’ve been putting off what I considered to be a chore involving some paint work. It was in fact a very small job, a tiny one, that if was done, would have some positive and relieving effect on my well-being, but for some unknown reasons I could never get started on it. 

Miraculously, I went to work over this past weekend and accomplished what should have been done long ago. 

In trying to analyze my reluctance to get to work on this task, I can only fault my lack of experience in the little touch-up I wanted to get done, my resulting poor expectation as to the quality of the job and my lack of satisfaction when all would be said and done. 

Yet, after I did what I was set to do, I did not feel too bad, was happy that the pesky task was accomplished and out of the way. 

I absolutely need to keep this experience in mind next time I’m confronted with a similar challenge!

Ready for a new pair of Crocs?

Yesterday, my wife and I just ordered another pair of Crocs. This will be our third since we began to buy the iconic footwear around 2009, but we don’t remember for sure. We use them as house sleeper and have found them very comfortable, silent and safe inside. We just couldn’t live without them. 

Crocs was developed in 2002 by Scott Seamans, Lyndon "Duke" Hanson, and George Boedecker, Jr., who, as boating enthusiasts, were looking for a comfortable, slip-resistant shoe to wear on deck. The original design was based on a foam clog made by a Canadian company called Foam Creations. 

In 2004, the three inventors purchased the rights to the design, including the proprietary foam resin called Croslite, a closed-cell EVA resin, and began tweaking it to create the Croc shoe we know today. The name "Crocs" is for "crocodile," as the shoe was designed to be worn in or around water. 

Interestingly, I couldn’t verify if Lyndon Hanson was related to one the two Hanson brothers, Chris and Denny, who founded the Hanson Ski Company in 1961, but I had thought so, since, just like Crocs, they were established around Boulder, Colorado. 

Since imitation is the best form of flattery, lots of copycat companies have flourished over the years and have been sued by Crocs for infringing on its patented design and construction. Crocs look-alike brands include Airwalk, Crosskix, Poliwalks, USA Dawgs/Doggers and Veggies, among others. 

Versions of the Croc style clogs have also appeared in children's fashion catalogs, usually under their own name brands or as no names while other knock-offs have been found in discount stores, beach stores, and the like. 

I’ve always admired the clean design and the ergonomics of Crocs, and I’m not the only one, since the shoe was tested and recommended by the US. Ergonomics company in 2005 and were accepted by the American Podiatric Medical Association in 2009. 

There were also a few problems along the way, with small kids wearing small size Crocs getting caught in escalators in Japan, static electricity related problems in some medical environments, but by in large, after the usual ups and downs, the company is now floating on its success with more than $2 billions in annual revenue and showing no sign of slowing down.

A new Gondola in Park City’s future?

A few days ago, I heard on the radio that a new gondola was in the work to ease some of the base congestion at Canyons Village at Park City. 

Huge lines have created big problems during peak periods as users only had two lifts to hoist them up the mountain there: The Red Pine gondola and the Orange Bubble chair. Well this may change in a not-too-distant future as Park City’s Canyons Village plan to offer a third out-of-base lift option. 

Last week, the Canyons Village Management Association board voted to sign a joint funding agreement with Vail Resorts for construction of a new 10 passenger gondola linking the south end of Canyons Village to Red Pine Lodge. Canyons Village has seen immense growth in recent years with new hotels, commercial space and employee housing opening while lift investment lagged. 

Once the project is completed, Park City skiers will be able to choose between a new 10 passenger Sunrise gondola, the existing 8 passenger Red Pine gondola and the Orange Bubble high-speed quad to get higher up in the mountain from Canyons Village. 

The new lift will provide a much-needed out-of-base alternative and create a second downloading option for end-of-day skiers return. The 6,512 foot long gondola will replace the Sunrise double-chair and will cross over the existing Over and Out quad. 

Just like the Red Pine gondola, the planned lift will whisk skiers 1,103 feet up to mid-mountain at a rate of 3,000 skier per hour . The bottom terminal will be located near the new Pendry hotel and the top will sit near the Saddleback Express and High Meadow Express lifts. 

While no manufacturer has been announced yet, this new lift may cost $18 million with an additional $9 million related building costs. The Canyons Village Management Association will fund up to $9.24 million of the $27 million total and Vail Resorts will own and operate the gondola. 

The agreement between the two parties stipulates that the new lift is to be completed within the next 3 years. It’s not for next season, but sure is one step in the right direction!

New “must-have gizmo” in mountain homes?

Most of Park City is roughly at 7,000 feet elevation. While not as high as most Colorado ski resorts, that in certain areas can be approaching 10,000 feet, there are many people who are not able to tolerate the thinner mountain air for a number of medical reasons (COPD and other respiratory ailments among others). 

This creates problems that could be seen as linked to altitude sickness, like fatigue, dizziness, and headaches. So, it’s not uncommon to have visitors, second or even permanent homeowners looking forward to living in a beautiful mountain-high environment but unable to enjoy it fully because of rarefied oxygen levels in the air. 

Slowly acclimating to high altitude is one way to prevent these discomforts. When traveling to over 8,000 feet above sea level, it would be a good idea to take several days to climb to your final altitude or to ease slowly into strenuous exercise. In fact, doctors recommend spending two to three days of gaining altitude slowly to adjust to changes in elevation with some suggesting gaining only 1,000 feet per day. Ascending slowly enables the body to adjust to higher elevations by allowing red blood cells to carry more oxygen to different parts of your body. 

This is however not what visitors typically do. As lengths of stay are becoming shorter, every visiting hour counts, and as soon as visitors gets to Park City, they can’t wait to hit the slopes. Then, there’s the recommendation to “play high, sleep low”. This means that one can play and ski at a high altitude but travel lower to sleep, which allows the body takes in the oxygen needed to combat the thin air affecting a full days of “playing”.

That’s where companies that precisely can provide “oxygenated” nights come into play with new technology and equipment able to oxygenate bedrooms in Rocky Mountain vacation homes. There are a number of these companies going after affluent homeowners that can be persuaded to minimize the debilitating effects of rarefied oxygen in altitude by outfitting their sleeping quarters. 

The air unit is controlled by a small tablet size controller on the bedroom wall and can also be controlled by a smart phone app. The room must be airtight with strict safety features to prevent risk of fire so the system can safely pump oxygen into the bedroom. 

So the rationale goes that a tired body is able to absorb more oxygen at night while sleeping in such a control environment, rejuvenate itself and wake up with the energy needed to enjoy a full day of skiing. As you can imagine, I find these solutions a bit extreme and gimmicky and the systems required to make them work are very complicated and not cheap. Installation alone can run $300,000 for an average home, so it’s not for everyone. 

At that rate and if I happen to feel short of breath at the end of the day, I might have to ski a bit less aggressively next time I’m on the slopes!

Should taxpayers pay for adventure travel going bad?

I’m not going to go into the sad outcome experienced by the passengers of the missing Titanic submersible “Titan”, following the catastrophic implosion that killed everyone on board. What I just want to discuss is who should be responsible for the gigantic cost of search and rescue in such a situation.

Should it be taxpayers like you and me, or more appropriately the exploration company and its paying passengers, ideally under the form of insurance that would bring the “cost-of-entry” into the submarine significantly north of the $250,000 paid by each one of the four rich adventurers? 

Obviously this goes far beyond that incident. Closer to home there are all those who, in the US at least, go skiing or snowmobiling in exposed terrain, get lost or are swiped away by some avalanche, and expect search and rescue by the same tax payers. 

I’d say, enough of that. There has to be some accountability, again covered by insurance for example. If there is no such coverage, it would be up to the next of kin to pay for all the rescue costs from there own pocket or from a compassionate “fund me” account that could be set up for this unfortunate occasion. 

That’s all I have to suggest, because I find it a bit gutsy to count on all tax payers less fortunate than these few wealthy, unproductive “adrenaline seekers”, to finance attempts to locate and save them. My tax dollars can simply be put to better and more compassionate use.

Mapping a way to and from Geneva airport

I have used the airport in Geneva hundreds of times in my entire life, mostly to go from and to the home village where I was raised in the Alps. 

There are basically two main options, following the most direct route or circumnavigating the city as the airport is located on my destination’s the opposite side. One huge hurdle is that the Rhone river splits the City in two, requires bridge crossing and with that, some major delays. 

Over the years, like everywhere else, things have changed enormously through continued expansion, and traffic has become both very intense and complex in navigating a metro area that's exploding on an aging layout, trans-border traffic with France and roadways everywhere. 

What used to be the most obvious and direct route has gradually become gridlocked, and the advent of the GPS hasn’t been quite able to resolve these traffic issues as the options available are so multiple and complex. I'm not even mentioning the fact that the airport straddling the border offers to entrances, the main one on the Swiss side and a secondary one on the French side.

Further, Switzerland requires a $45 sticker to access its freeways, and in many instance my rental car doesn’t have it, because I rent or drop it at the French sector of the airport (rental rates there are significantly cheaper) . 

So way too many times, I've got stuck which led me to haplessly experimenting new routes or rush to make a departing flight and this never ends well. For these multiple reasons, I wanted, once and for all, find a better way for my next trip. 

To accomplish it, I used Google maps and also asked my friends who know the area like their back pocket to help me. Very few responded, because, like me, they probably had no idea what the most optimum solution was. 

It’s also true that we’re all are creatures of habit and are sticking to itineraries that feel second-nature to us while they might be not the very best, but we’re simply so attached to them, that we never seek a potential better way.

Dare I say, that after hours spent on the subject and with some good help from one of them, I found that so coveted "best itinerary" that I'll be following for my next trip. Sure, this kind of progress is arriving a bit late in my lifetime, but it still is priceless!

Happy summer solstice!

The summer solstice is the day we’ve been looking forward to since the end of last December as we became tired of short and obscure days. Also called the “Estival Solstice” or “Midsummer”, it happens naturally when one of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt, some 23.44° toward the Sun. 

Within the Arctic circle (for the Northern hemisphere) or Antarctic circle (for the Southern), there is continuous daylight around the summer solstice. Obviously, the winter solstice and it also happens today everywhere “down under” and in December it will be their turn for the summer version. 

So, today, just enjoy the longest period of daylight and the shortest night of the year! In fact, the celebration of the solstices is mostly strongly associated with Paganism.

The festival of Litha is one of the most important in the Pagan religion, commencing on the eve of the Summer Solstice, it celebrates the midsummer and the power of the sun god. Magic is thought to be strongest during the Summer Solstice, and I’m told it’s also the time when the veil between this world and the next is at its thinnest! 

According to Pagan folklore, evil spirits in particular may walk the earth more freely at this time, and in order to ward them off, people wear protective garlands of herbs and flowers. 

Other Summer Solstice traditions surround the ashes from a midsummer bonfire. ‘Sunwheels’ were also used to celebrate midsummer in some communities, with a wheel or ball of straw lit on fire and rolled down a hill into a river. It was believed that if the fire went out before hitting the water then a good harvest was guaranteed. 

As you can see, since prehistoric times, the summer solstice has been celebrated in many cultures. The rites vary a lot in their nature and philosophy. In Park City for instance, we already start thinking about snow and skiing even though there’s still plenty of white stuff left on ridge lines this season! 

This year I plan to enjoy a short summer that has been ushered in by unprecedented rain and cold weather. Let’s keep the pole tilted south for as long as we can!

Helping someone makes us feel so good!

Early evening, the other day, we walked by the house of an elderly couple, Kurt and Noreen. He’s 88 and she’s 84 and they’ve recently been besieged with a lot of ongoing and serious medical issues. 

They were trying to plant a huge bunch of nasturtium by the entrance of their house and looked totally wiped out. We stopped and starting chatting, inquiring about the state of their health and their more recent treatments. 

Then, all of a sudden, without really knowing why, I knelled on the grass and finished planting what they had begun. There were still about 30 flowers to be planted. I went pretty fast doing it, taking my time, doing it right, but moving swiftly. 

My jeans were muddy, my hand dirty, they couldn’t believe this was happening and I genuinely and simply felt immensely good.

What’s Juneteenth?

I’m pretty certain that a large number of Americans don’t even know what “Juneteenth” is, so to make sure we’re all in the know, simply remember that Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, officially called Juneteenth National Independence Day. 

This day, that happens to fall today, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Post office, bank, government offices and large companies will shut down, but most every one else will go to work.

Its unusual name is the combination of “June” and “nineteenth”, as it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order, issued by Major General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, that proclaimed the freedom of slaves in Texas. 

Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth has since been observed annually in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating the African-American culture. The day was first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. So this is quite new and explain why so few of us are able to explain it...

Who’s trampling our veggie garden?

We’ve kept a veggie garden since my retirement in 2006. For that many years, we’ve grown herbs, lettuces and strawberries with pretty good success. 

This actually was until the trees around our house kept on growing, inviting much more wildlife than ever before (birds, squirrels, rabbits, deer, elk and moose, among other critters). 

Three to four summers ago, our strawberries were the first to be targeted. We tried everything available to chase magpies and American robins away, but with little success. The deer also like the strawberry, preferring the leaves and pulled some of our lettuce to munch on them. 

We could have used a machine gun, but we relented. This year we finally put an end to the culture of strawberry. To almost paraphrase the Beatles, our “strawberry fields aren’t forever”. Yet, in spite of this kind of adversity, we’ve prepared the ground and sowed lettuces that have just begun showing up.

Except that two days ago, I discovers the big footprints left by a wandering moose, and I took it as a dire warning that were candidate for having moose, elk or deer using our yard as a self-service food-stop. 

We’ll keep you informed how this potential war might develop and which, between the human and the animal specie, is likely to win it!

Tour de France Unchained on Netflix

We just finished watching the eight episodes of the Netflix series “Tour de France: Unchained”, and we loved it (see trailer below). This first season featured seven teams—including Jonas Vingegaard’s Jumbo-Visma team—during the 2022 Tour de France. 

This documentary is the cycling’s version of Drive to Survive that followed a number of Formula 1 drivers during its five seasons, dating back to 2018. 

It was produced by the same team that made Drive to Survive and features plenty of race footage, as well as behind the scenes clips, including Tadej Pogačar’s battle with Vingegaard the eventual winner of the 2022 edition. (Pogačar’s UAE team Emirates, however, did not agree to be featured in Unchained). 

Interestingly, it showed the different race directors’ working style and coaching philosophy including those of my countrymen that seem to have their work cut out for them… 

We loved this series, make sure to watch it if you can! 

Ciao Berlusconi!

The colorful Italian media tycoon, politician, and billionaire who was also prime minister at several points from 1994 to 2011, passed away recently, rejoining somewhere, above or below us, his French counterpart Bernard Tapie. 

Even more so than Tapie, Berlusconi enjoyed a long and tumultuous life and was given a great state funeral. As you might expect, I have very little sympathy for the man, as I did for Tapie, and deeply believe that the duo was cut from the same cloth as our embattled Donald Trump.

My only question at this point is when will Trump decide to rejoin the pair and create havoc in heaven or hell depending on the reunited trio’s final destination?

Best Buy’s good tech support

I’ve been lamenting about America’s declining customer service, but was pleasantly surprise in experiencing Best Buy’s Geek Squad, the large electronic retailer’s customer service. 

In the past, when I ran into computer problems I couldn’t solve, I turned to local tech repair men who were all but nice, helpful or affordable. To put it simply, they inspired me everything, but confidence. 

When I got my most recent computer breakdown, I couldn’t get the hold of these tech guys I usually work with, so I turned to the Geek Squad. First, over the phone and then in person at their store. 

In both instances, I found them to be courteous, effective, pleasant and not pushy, in other words, neither tech (a girl then a guy) I experienced that time, tried to sell me anything like a service contract or attempted to tell me that my computer was too old and needed to be replaced. 

This has changed my view on the “big box” store and next time, I’ll consider going there when I’m in need of some tech products or a repair!

Trump’s desptopian universe

As Trump is sailing through it’s most serious indictment so far, he continues to run and stay afloat on his big mouth, his unending reservoir of hypocrisy and seems to still appeals to his supporter as the ultimate validation for doing and thinking evil.

What’s even more gulling to me are the republican politicians who continue to support him in spite of all this, and reflect, in the process, a much more terrible rendition of the devil incarnate they are along with their leader. 

The crowds that he ask to come for his arraignment didn’t materialize and some Republicans are started to have cold feet towards the Donald. I can only hope that by standing his collapsing ground, Trump is eroding his base and the latter might finally embark on a case of grave and terminal “Trump fatigue…”

Recurring computer nightmares

For the past 40 years, I’ve had my share of problems with computers, considering that we got our first computer in 1983. I should add, all kind of problems that always have driven me totally nuts, wanting to at least kick the house cat, bite the neighbor’s dog or something of the sort. 

Desperation was eventually followed by elation if and when the machine resurrected, but the cumulative sum of all the resulting stress is without a doubt what I place on the account of having gone bald at a fairly young age. 

From coffee spilled on keyboards, to total freeze of the machine or irretrievable file stuck on some bad hard drive, I had seen them all, or at least I had until yesterday when my mouse began flickering as it was Christmas in June. 

I stuck another, older mouse, inside the machine and the problem re-appeared with a vengeance. I didn’t what to do. Clicking the feeble pointer didn’t get me anywhere. Since it was a desktop PC, I didn’t have the touch-pad found on laptops. 

I called a troubleshooting service that couldn’t get into my desktop because the half-dead mouse didn’t let me do what I was instructed to do. Never had this happen to me before! This was a bad, new experience I had to welcome with glee as I was on the verge to learn something new and noteworthy! 

After struggling for several hours, I resigned myself to take my PC to some computer emergency room. I made an appointment, showed up today, the technician turned on my computer tried with my mouse, all was well, check with my mouse and it was perfect. 

I felt stupid, owed nothing and drove back home with my renewed machine. Just like me, the computer might have felt tired and a good, long night sleeping took care of the problem!

The (lost) art of planning trips

When I used to travel extensively, planning a vacation or a family trip was easy, painless and fast. I was in the “groove” and had plenty of practice. 

Since I have retired and quit traveling like crazy and after having lived through the Covid “travel freeze”, I’m no longer the adventure planner I used to be and doing so saps a lot of my energy, stresses me out and becomes more of a chore than pure pleasure.

There’s a project I’m in the midst of right now that has given me a lot of challenge. We where at first contemplating a pretty complicated trip involving Greece and its Islands, combined with a family and friends visit to France, yet I had to backtrack and start over from scratch, throwing all my precious planning work out of the window, because the first plan proved to be too complicated. 

This doesn’t mean that plan B won’t be hard, difficult and complicated either, but there will be less “moving parts” and I might be able to fare better in untangling those. I am also pretty confident that I’ll learn a lot while doing that over. At lest that’s the kind of tangible benefit I always expect from any struggle I’m faced with!

Testing the IRS

Late April, I received a letter from the IRS asking me something I couldn’t understand (I believe they wanted me to pay several hundreds of dollars for an error I had made), so I turned it to my accountant, who in turned discovered that she too had messed up even more with my 2020 tax return. 

So I filed an amendment that was going to net me a sizable reimbursement by the taxing authority, in other words a rare agreeable surprise from that administration! Late May, the IRS sent me a letter asking me to verify that it was me who had initiated the amendment process, in order to get the refund (the state of Utah had already sent me its share).

For that, I had to call a certain telephone number, which I did immediately, but whenever I tried, I was told that the agents were too busy and that I should call at a later date. I persisted the best I could, go lucky a week or so ago, but was missing documents and could not complete the procedure. 

So I called again, was turned down because no one was there to take my call, on day I stayed 50 minutes on hold for nothing and finally this past Friday, after waiting 2 hours and 32 minutes I was miraculously able to interact with an agent, who asked me many more stupid questions, before telling me that all was okay and that I would receive my refund between 3 and 9 weeks from that time. 

Altogether, after checking on my phone I called more fifteen times, spent about 5 hours doing that, leaving me very dissatisfied with my Federal taxing authority. Not only they seemed grossly understaffed, but I suspect that many agents are working from home, are not at all effective at working that way, spend more time walking their dog and taking care of their kids, while we, the taxpayers suffer immensely. 

It’s also true that the IRS has been grossly understaffed for years, especially in the customer service department. And so it's not uncommon for taxpayers who call the agency, like me, to experience crazy wait times. Not so long ago, $80 billion in new funding (over 10 years) was awarded to the IRS by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to add staff and go after tax-cheats (which would have more than paid for itself), but the recent bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling just clawed back $20 billion. 

Of that, $10 billion will be “repurposed” in fiscal 2024, along with another $10 billion in 2025 to be allocated toward more resources for non-defense priorities. When all is said than done, roughly $29 billion could now be spent on additional enforcement and auditing over the next 10 years as opposed to the $45 billion originally allocated, and the $25 billion boost to operations could fall as low as $16.25 billion under this scenario. 

That’s why I don’t expect a miracle any time soon with the IRS!

France: A different school massacre

I won’t go into the details that surrounded the stabbing of four small kids and two adults in Annecy, this past Thursday, that left most of the victims wounded with critical injuries. 

While this clearly was a “copycat crime” inspired by recent student shootings in America. I only want to underscore how such a mindless crime could have been so much more lethal, had it occurred in the United States.

Thanks to reasonable gun laws, the knife-wielding attacker did not have the power at his hands to do more carnage. In France, it’s a lot more difficult to find an AK-49, AR-15 or even a hand gun to conduct a massacre like the one that my countrymen witness. 

It goes a long way in showing that free sale of fire arms, not to mention weapons of war, is what makes the difference between an America out of control and civilized nations like the ones making up the European Community. 

It’s become clear that the freedom to own firearms in the home, in the car glove compartment, the pocket or purse, is far more important than the safety of the American people and their children who increasingly are targeted. 

Our members of Congress should stop and think about their refusal to afford their constituents with the basic safety they need, even if that might take confronting the firearm lobby by instituting effective and comprehensive background check, banning assault weapons, oversize magazines, and even leading to a constitutional review of the second amendment.

Changing my mind on the Alta-Snowbird gondola

I used to be a staunch supporter of the 3S gondola that has been proposed by Utah’s department of transportation to mitigate the difficulties in accessing the Alta and Snowbird mountain resorts. With an estimated cost of the lift pegged at $550 million, plus another $7 million a year in operating and maintenance cost, the final total cost might well exceed one billion dollars if and when it gets done. 

While the cost of operating and maintaining the lift should be paid by users, the construction cost will be borne by all Utah taxpayers. One week ago, the Wasatch Front Regional Council approved a massive long-term regional transportation plan for the next 30 years. 

Although the council adopted UDOT’s environmental impact statement in its entirety, it did so with a caveat: by including a “statement of intent” that the council supports first prioritizing Phase 1 and 2 involving Little Cottonwood Canyon, that are outlined in the impact statement. Those phases don’t include the gondola. 

Phase 1 of the project, to be completed between 2023-2032, would implement enhanced bus service, tolling, roadway improvements, and a mobility hub. Phase 2 would implement avalanche snow sheds and trail-head improvements between 2033-2042. It’s only Phase 3 of the project, to be completed between 2043-2050, that would include the gondola. 

This is also where I see the crux of the problem is; how can we ask people leaving outside of Salt Lake County (the prime beneficiary of the economic return from tourist activities in Alta and Snowbird) to pay for a gondola that will only benefit two for-profit ski resorts instead of being spent on addressing other issues benefiting the entire population of the state? 

While Snowbird is owned by John and David Cumming, Alta is owned by multiple parties, with the largest shares held by the Laughlin family (51%), the Quinney family (25%), and the Bass family (11%). These parties should should be the one paying for the Gondola, not the taxpayer living in Moab, St. George or me in Park City!

Protesting the proposed Little Cottonwood Canyon gondola at the Thursday, May 25, 2023 meeting 

When righteous folks comment...

The other day, I read a well-written article about Karin Harjo, a female ski coach’s that focused on how exposure to a large number of different cultures (Japanese, Norwegian, American and Canadian with it English and French speaking challenges) could made people that much more adaptable and successful in their approach to good communication, effective skills development and, ultimately, great human success. 

An acquaintance of mine, former ski coach, whom I thought would enjoy this excellent article, replied that a quick revue of the article made him realize how insignificant is ski racing, and what goes on within it is the concern of a small bubble of privileged people that himself used to belong to. 

He continued and said that his mind was more into the absurdity of the war in Ukraine than the progress of women finally reaching equality in ski coaching, which wasn’t the main reason why I found the article worth forwarding. 

Just like this fellow, I too, am horrified by what goes on in Ukraine and aside from "neutralizing" Putin and his entourage, I don't see how this conflict can be resolved quickly. My point is that each topic has its place in any discussion and doesn’t require lecturing the individual that brings it up, which in that case was yours truly. 

I guess, this was just a “bump” on the highway of existence that won't crimp my style!

Waiter in Grainau, Bavaria

Just fifty years ago this month, I had decided to seriously study German. I had been toying with the idea of going back to Mt. Buller, Australia and, for a change in atmosphere, teach with the Austrian ski school as my friend JP Chatellard had done in 1972. I also thought that knowing German would get me a broader clientele during the winter season at Avoriaz, as the young resort was able to attract a sizable number of European visitors. 

Always someone to believe in full immersion and ready to take the plunge, I jumped in my Renault 12 station wagon, left my home in the French Alps, began by driving northeast through Switzerland, all the way to Lake Constance and then veered east into Austria’s Vorarlberg, drove through some picturesque landscape into Tyrol and all the way to Garmish-Partenkirschen in Bavaria. Some 8 hours behind the wheel to cover some 375 miles!

There, I didn't waste time and went to the local job service office, purchased some newspapers in order to get a job that could sustain me while I was improving my command of German (I had self-studied for about one year, and could speak my way out of trouble and satisfy my most basic needs, but wasn’t fluent yet). 

Almost immediately, I found a job as a waiter (one of my solid skills, besides ski instructing) at a tourist restaurant in Grainau, just 10 minutes away. I showed up and must have made a pretty good impression since I got the job on the spot. The pay was okay and included room and board, which was perfect. 

The restaurant owner, an impressive matron, immediately took me to a large store in Garmish where she made me purchase a uniform composed of a pair of black slacks, assorted black shoes and a white shirt (the waiter’s apron was loaned to me as her contribution). So without missing a beat I began waiting on customers. 

Boy, was it a baptism by fire! I couldn’t quite understand the patrons that spoke with various accents and dialects. The first item I learned and never forget on the goddamned menu was “blaue Forelle“, a trout specially prepared. For a week, I struggled like hell and, on the seventh day, gave up, threw the towel, returned the apron and drove back to France. 

My gutsy and ambitious move was no match for my thin patience and self-confidence. I almost instant
ly regretted my giving up the project, and that’s how I learned that patience is golden, and from that point forward, I would have to significantly increase the dosage if I really wanted to be a success!

Jesus meets Jean-Claude Killy

The scene happened a few days ago, in Cologny, an affluent suburb of Geneva, Switzerland 

The famous skier Jean-Claude Killy was out doing some shopping when he was accosted by a middle-eastern young man who tapped him on the shoulder, saying: “Do you recognize me?” Surprised, Killy went: “Not really, but I may have met you somewhere…” The man introduced himself: “I’m Jesus”. 

Even more stunned, Killy just replied: “Wow! The one from Nazareth”? “You got it.” said the smiling interloper. Somehow and pretty rapidly the two sat down at a nearby café and began an animated discussion. 

Jesus: “What have you been up to Jean-Claude?” 

Killy: “Not much, I’m retired now and I’ve been deflecting the tons of criticism I received as a result of my friendship with Putin.” 

Jesus: “That’s understandable, the man is such a creep!” 

Killy: “Not really, if you make an effort to listen to what he has to say…” 

Jesus: “The majority of people have fascinating tales to share, but they’re not always true, Jean-Claude!” 

Killy: “Are you suggesting I’m just another gullible guy unable to think critically?” 

Jesus: “That’s possible, and this makes you stand-out like an oddity, when every reasonable person who has observed Putin’s maneuvers thinks the man is a war criminal. How can you square that?” 

Killy: “Among a majority of people that mindlessly follow trends and fashionable opinions, I’ve remained an extremely loyal person and my sense of judgment has almost never or seldom failed me. Unlike many others, I take pride in my track-record…” 

Jesus: “Do I see that there has been special consideration on the part of Putin that could have mollified your judgment towards him?” 

Killy: “What are you suggesting? I act ethically, period. Before anything, he’s my friend and I think he’s right.” 

Jesus: “Have any of your friends told you that friendship was woefully misplaced?” 

Killy: “Yes, many have attempted to change my mind, even mocked me, there’s even a French guy who lives in America who sent me a letter asking to intervene with Putin to stop the invasion of Ukraine…” 

Jesus: “What did you do, then?” 

Killy: “I remained undeterred.” 

Jesus: “Well, I’m not getting much traction with you Jean-Claude, so I’m going back to heaven!” 

Killy: “Hope to see you there…” 

Jesus: “We'll see..”

A moose inside my office

Last night another special dream woke me up as it made a strong impression on me, and that’s probably why I remembered it so vividly. 

Somehow, a large moose had venture inside what could have been our Park City home. Out of precaution, I had succeeded in channeling the animal inside my relatively small office space and carefully closed the door. 

Then I had gone out and asked passers-by a stupid question like: “Have you had any experience with a moose inside your office and how did you manage to get it out of that room without getting trampled to death?” 

As you can imagine, strangers like these weren’t much help in guiding me and my only issue left was to wake up. Damn wandering moose!

Using euphemisms or calling a spade a spade?

These days we hear a lot about “climate change”. Then we hear a lot about a symptom, but not so much about its cause that is “use of fossil fuels”. 

I think we should prefer the later name, get used to its sound and refer to it instead of going with just climate change, its indisputable consequence. 

Just calling it C02 emissions won’t do the job either. We must keep in our mind’s eye constantly refueling our cars, the planes that crisscross our skies, the coal or gas that is used for electric generation, cement factories or me, riding a chairlift in winter. Fossil fuels are destroying our planet, that's it.

Sure Exxon-Mobil or Koch Industries won’t like that moniker and may get upset, but I feel that calling a spade a spade is preferable over hiding behind symptoms instead of their cause, or following the herd of political correctness. 

Do you agree, and are you ready to change that expression any time “climate change” comes to you mind or out of your mouth?

Trying to be more adventurous or progressive

This blog is a follow-up to yesterday’s. Obviously we’re are all variably ambivalent about whether we are leaning conservative or progressive. 

According to each individual, both traits comes in different doses. Some of us are more daring, other are less. This is based on our genetics, the way we were raised, our life experiences, our degree of assertiveness and if we are introvert or extrovert. 

More generally, we tend to be less adventurous as we grow older, also if we had bad experience or trauma in straying from the proven and familiar path or throwing all care away and jumping into the unknown. Like with all decisions, adventure requires both practice and frequency. 

I could say that in order to be more progressive, we must be more curious and if we aren’t, we should develop that trait as well. Then of course, we need to move with baby steps at first, and leave the daring feats for the days we’ve turned into an Indiana Jones of sorts. 

At any rate, and no matter how deep or far we want to venture into experimenting new ventures, we are likely to learn a lot, experience some nice surprises and discover that change is not totally bad!

Are Conservative “disinventing” the wheel?

The existential reason for conservatism in politics has always eluded me. Instead of suggesting a forward motion, being a conservative precisely calls for a move towards the rear, a reversal of the established order, a return to the past and its way of doing things. 

It’s also tied to the fear of change and the reluctance to adapting. Most human beings are adverse to transforming their lives and if given a choice would rather stay where they are, both physically and intellectually, avoiding the mental anguish it creates. 

For some, there’s even more comfort found in the past than in standing still and refusing to progress. They seem to long for the squeaky clean “Fifties” and sometimes even to previous centuries or the medieval times, including its dominating and ironclad religious leadership. 

When one looks at conservatism under that lens it’s hard to see how the political movement can be positively creative and even innovative. 

The conservative movement is a stand-still monolith that sticks its head in the sand, doesn’t like scientific truths, lingers in nostalgia, prefers religious irrationality, refuses to fix what’s in dire need of repair, wants to maintain unfair privileges and protections and refuses to see today’s needs, grasps future trends and keep building a new world. 

All this explains why I’m not a “Conservative”.

A first ski industry sales job in 1973

Fifty years ago, as my ski instructor season was ending, my good friend Michel Duret had asked me if I would be interested in canvassing the various ski retail shops in and around Paris during the month of May. 

I probably said “Why not?” since I had nothing to do during that period of time. He had a well established, older sales rep covering the Alps and neighboring cities like Lyon, Marseilles and the like, but no one in Paris at that time. 

I remember having just purchased a Renault 12 station wagon and was a bit eager to hit the road with it. That car replaced the Citroen 2cv that I had been driving since I got my license at 18. I remember having purchased and installed a radio-cassette that would enable me to listen to plenty of music while I’d be on the road. 

I had been a couple of times to Paris but had no clue about driving in that crazy, big city, just a crude road map and no experience whatsoever in navigating that major metro area, not to mention carrying ski samples in the metro when I called on ski shop located in the heart of the City. 

I remember that Michel had prepared half-a-dozen single ski samples in short lengths that were protected inside an elegant, long, black velvet sleeve. I really didn’t know much about ski aside from skiing on them from December to April, understood some of their construction rudiments passed along by my friend, but had no real clues about competitive products, their pricing and market positioning (the later being not even talked about in these days). 

I had no idea either how “Ski Duret” stacked up in the mind and needs of ski retailers. Needless to say that I was woefully unprepared. For the entire time, I stayed in a hotel in the 12th Arrondissement and then sometimes driving around, but most of the time lugging my samples in the metro, I cold-called ski shops with a highly variable rate of success. 

By that, I meant some refused to talk to me while some offered me a chance to make a case for the product I was selling, but I never, ever, wrote one single ski order. What I learned were tons of reasons why shop owners weren’t interested, nor needed my skis. 

During the weekends, I visited my Parisian ski students to cheer me up. I think I stayed in the French capital at least four weeks and might have returned with much relief just before Ascension day that was on the 31 that year. 

This said, I had a good time, Paris was lovely and as always, I’d like to say that I learned a lot in the process and realized that this experience might be part of my not-so-distant future, without being too sure about it.