Big (?) change at Vail Resorts

At long last Kirsten Lynch, who was the big boss at Vail Resorts, go fired as per a company’s announcement last Tuesday. 

The move that took an inordinate amount of time came after a messy ski season for the ski conglomerate, following a terrible handling of the Park City’s ski patrol strike that created an avalanche of horrible press and sent the company’s stock nosediving. 

Still, Lynch will receive a lump sum of $2,249,108, equivalent to two years of her annual salary on her official separation date.In addition, all of her unvested stock holdings in Vail Resorts will also be vested at the time of termination, so she’ll be able to stock her fridge and freezer and be just fine.  

Still, as the saying goes: “The more things change, the more they stay the same”, Rob Katz is returning to his role as CEO of Vail Resorts and finds himself inside the world he largely contributed to create. The man who is now 58, was already the company’s CEO in 2006 and served in that role until November 2021 when Lynch took over his job. 

Katz doesn’t strike me as the sharpest knife in the kitchen drawer, and if he remains asleep at the wheel instead of beginning to listen more to his customers than his board of directors, or the sycophants surrounding, he’ll be condemned to prolonging the same business culture that created its recent problems in the first place. 

Another step he should take, is hire general managers from the resort community they will be overseeing, and give them plenty of autonomy! Of course, Vail Resorts’ economies of scale might suffer and this will require a more active and capable management which might be in short supply. 

Short of that, Vail Resort will continue the death spiral that started for the global ski conglomerate.

Befriending patience (Part 2)

Not so long ago, I realized that I needed to be much more patient and decided to make more room for that trait in my life. I needed the skill to improve my emotional well-being, the state of my relationships and my quality of life. 

Starting meditating regularly was the trigger that made me feel more present, calmer and less frustrated. At that point I had already realized and accepted that some things were out of my control and that I only could focus on what I could influence. Progressively, I also realized that my impatience often came from unrealistic expectations and it opened up my eyes to the fact that delays and challenges were opportunities that made me stronger. 

Prioritizing what truly mattered removed a large layer of stress. I began allowing myself more time for tasks to avoid feeling rushed and embraced a slower pace. I also became a better listener, became gentler in recognizing that others (and even myself) were doing their best. I also tried to remind myself that patience always led to better outcomes. 

In addition to meditating, working around my house and starting a veggie garden some twenty years ago was perhaps what taught me the most about patience. Starting this blog  at about the same time helped me put on paper what I sometimes had a hard time materializing in my thoughts. The observation of older adults more patient than me also impressed me enough to begin imitating their calmer demeanor. 

Other intense physical activities like cycling, running, hiking, walking and of course, skiing, all contributed to making more room for patience into my life. I used to feel “obligated” to please. I don’t anymore and as result I avoid over-committing and have developed the strength to say "no" to unnecessary stressors. 

Aging also helped me adjust my expectations based on my changing physical abilities and it also taught me to be less severe with myself, to accept that some tasks may take longer than they used to, and finally pursue quality over quantity or speed! 

Patience grows with practice. I suggest to start small, forgive setbacks, and appreciate the wisdom that comes with time. This said, I still have a very long way to go on the long road of patience. Yet, there isn’t a day that goes by without my budding patience being tested by frustration due to breakdowns, incidents, traffic or technological challenges. 

In the end, when I ask myself “Will this matter in a year?” it puts me in a much better place to recognize the finite nature of life and shift my priorities toward patience and gratitude.

The value of patience in chaotic times (Part 1)

Historically, I’ve always been an impatient individual with a rather impulsive character and now that I’m getting older, I’ve been focusing on reawakening my limited patience and as I’m observing that this trait is growing in me, I’m comforted to see that it’s become the antidote to the relentless chaos and complexity our modern world brings us daily. 

Indeed, I do believe that in today’s fast-paced, disruptive, and complex environment, working on being more patient is well worth the effort. For one thing, I find it to be a wonderful way to lower stress. With added patience I respond to challenges calmly rather than react impulsively which, I’m told, also lowers what used to be my constant anxiety and frustration. 

When it comes to making decisions in a world of information overload, it helps me conduct deeper analysis of issues, preventing rushed choices that I might soon regret. It also minimizes things like reactive arguments, and snap judgments in my relationships and my social circles.

A robust patience, I’ve found, helps foster my empathy, makes me a more active listener, thus facilitating my interactions with others. Patience also helps building trust, as others appreciate a composed, understanding approach, over impulsive reactions. Sure developing patience takes both faith and time, but its ultimate contribution happens in the long-term, as it requires time to grow and bloom. 

Like anything else, it’s the product of persistence and tenacity on the way to achieving goals despite unavoidable setbacks. Unlike instant gratification, patience aligns with delayed rewards, leading to more sustainable success. 

When chaos strikes, patience allows for measured adaptation rather than panic and helps navigate complexity by encouraging strategic thinking over short-term fixes. Medical research, I’m told, seems to indicate that being more patient goes a long way in lowering blood pressure, improving sleep, and fostering stronger immune functions. 

In society where leadership and teamwork are essential, patience signals maturity, earns respect, influence and guarantees smooth navigation in high-pressure environments. A true treasure, patience isn’t passive but is in fact a strategic strength in a world that glorifies speed. 

Those who can master that quality will gain clarity, resilience, and a competitive edge while maintaining inner peace. Tomorrow, we’ll explore how to tame patience...

Resisting or going with the flow?

Frequently, I ask myself whether there’s more merit in “Resisting” or “Going with the Flow” and first and foremost I’m telling myself: “It depends…” Knowing when to resist and when to go with the flow is a delicate balance that depends on the context, my values, and my goals. 

I will resist when something violates my ethics, my integrity, or my deeply held beliefs. Same thing when I see harm being done to others or to me, like abuse, discrimination or exploitation, I must stand up against it. 

Also when going along with things I would regret, then I need to push back. Each time someone is disrespecting my limits (emotional, physical or professional), I can’t stay silent. Then there are also times when resistance is needed to break unhealthy patterns, learn resilience, or drive change.

Conversely, I should probably go with the flow when I deal with trivial issues, like minor disagreements, small inconveniences, as flexibility goes a long way in reducing superfluous stress. 

Of course, when circumstances are beyond my control, like under natural catastrophes or societal shifts, I remind myself that adaptability is wiser than futile resistance. I also go with the flow when teamwork or personal relationships matters more to me than being "right" or sticking to my principles. 

Over the years, I’ve also found that over-controlling often stifles inspiration while simply surrendering to the process can lead to unexpected and positive outcomes. 

Finally I try to remember that not every battle is worth fighting and that I should not exhaust myself for minute benefits. In practice, before deciding between these two attitudes I should pause and reflect by wondering how this aligns with my values and what’s the price to pay? 

I should also make sure that I’m not resisting out of fear, ego, or going with the flow out of avoidance? Remember that a little imagining into the future goes a long way and it always helps to project if I’ll look back with pride, regret, or indifference? 

So, as always, balance is key. At the end of the day, wisdom lies in knowing when I should stand like a mountain and when I should flow like a river...

Humor in bulk…

On the internet, I always come across that “tiling” of humorous messages that are for me to digest, in the hope perhaps that the cleverest ones will make up for the poor or questionable ones.

It’s a bulk or a pile of humorous thoughts, ideas, fun situations that need to be deciphered and subconsciously classified so the receiver can sort out the great from the acceptable and the downright terrible. 

I hate to have to do that. It represents to me a disorderly and unclassified chore I don’t want to do. I respond much better to one single joke or funny thought at a time, and you?

Juggling with bike and dog...

For the past 15 years, I’ve observed more and more bike riders combining cycling and trying to hold their dogs on leash. It must be a deep-seated craving for wanting to multitask at all costs. Fitting too many activities in a finite amount of time, or perhaps wanting to show up one’s bike skills to the rest of us. 

Still, I’m of the opinion that if “bikejoring”, as it’s called, might look like a fun and clever activity it’s unfortunately generally practiced carelessly, putting both the dog and the rider at risk. Observing whether the rider is attentive to the dog's condition, using proper equipment, and choosing safe routes are supposed to mitigate the risk, but in the vast majority of cases, nothing guarantees a secure ride, so I do question the riders’ judgment. 

Just like the fact of driving a car with a dog on lap, the legality of riding a bike on a public street or roadway while having a dog on a leash, varies by state and local laws in the US. Only California explicitly prohibits biking with a dog on a leash due to safety concerns as it’s considered unsafe if it impedes control. Other states have no specific laws against it but may enforce general reckless cycling or animal endangerment statutes, only New York City considers biking while holding a leash risky and police may issue fines. 

A few places allow it but may require the leash to be of a certain length. As far as Utah, my state goes, there’s no statewide law explicitly prohibiting riding a bike while holding a dog on a leash. Just imagine doing this in Park City when there’s snow on the ground (as the photo illustrates, I’ve seen it more than once!) Fortunately, several countries explicitly prohibit riding a bike while holding a dog on a leash, considering it a traffic safety or animal welfare violation. 

Germany requires cyclists to always have "both hands on the handlebars unless signaling." Holding a leash violates this rule. Holland, the world’s number one bike country requires that cyclists must maintain full control, and holding a leash is often deemed unsafe. Police can fine riders under general endangerment rules. Some Swiss cantons explicitly ban biking with a leashed dog. In others, police may penalize it under "reckless cycling" statutes. 

Down under in Australia, in states like Victoria and New South Wales biking with a leashed dog can result in fines for "not having proper control" of the bicycle. In Sweden, the law requires that the cyclist must always have full control over the dog to avoid endangering themselves, the dog, or others. Some countries like Finland, Canada and the U.K. are more washy-washy as they respectively stipulate that the dog is well-trained and runs calmly and that a hands-free bike leash attachment is used. Now you know the deal. 

Use your common-sense and if you have some, don’t do it!

Demolition Derby?

In my little town of Park City, there are lots of homes in good to excellent condition that are purchased to be torn-down and replaced by a brand-new, huge residence. When I picture the destruction in Gaza or in Ukraine, it makes me cringe and see the practice as wasteful and immoral. 

Recently, a young household purchased a home 200 yards from us in great condition (if was just restored and would have been worth $3 to 3.5 million today). The house was plenty big for them and their two young kids, but wasn’t meeting their wishes or not cool enough, so it just got teared down leaving a pile of rubble in its place. 

In ski towns like Park City, a small quarter of an acre lot is worth at least $2 million and it will take at least as much the same to rebuild it into a place with modern amenities (open floor plans, smart homes, exercise room etc.) that older homes lack. 

Now, for the bad news: Tearing down a functional home sends tons of debris to landfills (concrete, lumber, fixtures, etc). The US environmental agency estimates that annually, 600,000 tons of demolition waste come from residential tear-downs like that one. 

Not only that, but older homes already have "carbon savings" from decades of use, while new construction emits CO₂ from manufacturing materials (concrete, steel) and transportation, conflicting with sustainability goals. There’s also the fact that losing older homes often strip neighborhoods of their historic charm and character. 

Replacing modest homes with monster mansions, makes housing less affordable and displaces locals. There should be a push for deconstruction ordinances (like Portland’s in Oregon, that requires salvaging materials from old homes), encouraging renovating and expanding existing homes, building smaller, well thought-out living space as an affordable alternative to mega-mansions. 

While tear-downs are often legal and driven by market forces, they raise serious environmental, social, and moral questions and most of us living in ski towns share in the blame for that.

Driving with a dog on one’s lap

A measure of a population’s intelligence is whether it’s free to engage into risky behavior at the expense of others, like operating a motor vehicle with a dog or cat on the driver’s lap. To me, that’s both very risky and totally stupid, both for the car passengers, the other road users and the unrestrained pet. 

Yet, I see it everyday in my charming little town of Park City. Here, and all over Utah, there is no specific state law that explicitly prohibits driving with a small dog on your lap. 

Still there’s a so-called Utah’s Distracted Driving Law that prohibits drivers from using handheld devices, but fails to mention pets. It’s possible however (but highly unlikely), that a policeman could cite a driver for "careless driving" if the dog obstructs the control of the vehicle or is a distraction to the driver. 

In the United States, there’s no federal law explicitly prohibiting driving with a small dog on one’s lap, only a pair of states (Hawaii, Rhode Island) have laws that prohibit driving with a pet on laps. In Hawaii the fine can be up to $97 and in Rhode Island $50. In states without explicit pet laws, drivers could be cited under generic distracted driving or reckless driving laws if the pet blocks the view or the controls, but I doubt it’s even enforced. 

In Canada there’s no outright bans for lap dogs, but drivers still risk fines ($1,000 in Ontario, $368 in British Columbia or $100-200 in Quebec) and lose demerit points under the Highway Traffic Act for "careless driving" if the pet obstructs control. 

In the European Union (EU), driving with a small dog on the driver’s lap is generally illegal, and in France, where I’m from, the Police doesn’t kid around as “failure to maintain control” in that manner, means a €135 fine among other penalties. 

All this to show that we shouldn’t be so surprised that Trump got reelected!

DNA and Afterlife

We recently discussed the afterlife on this blog and I overlooked the important relationship that exists between DNA and eternal life, as an alternative to the concept of surviving one’s own mortality. 

This thought first hit me 37 years ago, at the death of my father. I realized then that we all lived forever through the DNA we pass on to our offspring. This idea of "forever life" through the genes we pass to our children is a biological perspective on immortality, rooted in the principles of genetics and evolution.

While it's true that our genes persist in our descendants, this is different from most traditional concepts of an afterlife, which typically involve some form of conscious existence beyond physical death. I will admit that through that process I cease to exist as a conscious individual, and that doesn’t get any better as my genes mix and dilute over generations, meaning that my future descendants will only carry minute fragments of my DNA. 

For those whose kids were adopted, or childless artists and others, this non-biological form of persistence still works perfectly as we "live on" through our ideas, influence, and cultural contributions. 

Sure, there are also all the religions and spiritual beliefs that offer an afterlife involving a form of reincarnation or some eternal consciousness—something beyond mere genetic transmission, but that doesn’t work too well for me as I am woefully unable to remember any previous lives of mine, yet alone events that occurred to me 50 or 60 years ago! 

In conclusion, for me, in a strictly biological sense, parts of my DNA will persist in future generations, even though I realize it will be under the form of diminishing returns and won’t be the same as my living forever in a conscious or spiritual sense, a concept that I must admit, tires me when I begin to imagine it, so the gene story will be plenty for me...

Trump’s “Level 9” imbecility

On Tuesday’s morning radio news, I heard that Trump who, when given a chance, can’t resist saying something mean and imbecile. 

After it was announced that his predecessor had cancer, Trump suggested that Biden had been less than forthcoming about his health. "I'm surprised that the public wasn't notified a long time ago because to get to Stage 9, that's a long time," he said, when a reporter asked for his comment about Biden’s recently disclosed ailment. 

Trump, who isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, didn’t know much or nothing about the Gleason score — a measurement of how aggressive cancer cells appear to be — with the stage of Biden's cancer. Biden has stage 4, the most serious stage of cancer on the Gleason score. 

There is not a Stage 9 cancer, which means that when one is ignorant, on top of being the president of the US, that one shuts his filthy and really stupid mouth.

The new Two-State solution

As Trump turns Old Gaza into a beach resort, generous as we know him to be, he’ll be eager welcome its 2 million inhabitants and let them settle in brand-new residences on the East Coast of Florida, just opposite to his Mar-a-Lago estate. 

That way, he could create New Gaza, a fully independent nation that would bring even more diversity to the Sunshine State, add to the excitement and create a compelling reason for the media to talk incessantly about its famous Mar-a-Lago neighbor.

Of course, eminent domain would trade, not confiscate, the roughly 141 square miles needed to fit the new settlement in, with an equal number of acres out of the 15 % of land owned by the State of Florida, so the current inhabitants of Gaza could return to brand new homes on a prized seaside location. 

An even more generous Trump could double the landmass to 300 square miles, but I might be getting ahead of myself… The people living in Palm Beach and those living nearby would then be relocated to nice, new residences in various areas of the State. 

Does this make sense to you ? It certainly does to me!

Trump challenged by arithmetic…

With his big mouth, Donald Trump has built an image of someone who knows what he’s talking about while in fact he knows absolutely nothing about Economics 101. 

Take his recent spat with Walmart. With arbitrary extra tariffs imposed on importers, the giant retailer will have to pay its suppliers more for the products it sells, so it likely will need to increase prices to maintain its profit margins and keep its stock value where it needs to be (something smart Trump would want to stay high). 

If one could assume that all industrial products will have to be built in America, it’s going to be harder to grow all the bananas and avocados we eat inside our country. 

I’m a convinced globalist and Trump’s idea of transferring all manufacturing in his country is a pipe dream, considering that our economy creates three-third of its GDP through consumption. 

I predict that his idea of tariffs will be the rope Trump and his sycophants are in the process of hanging themselves with, as he stubbornly hangs on to his “magic” economic concept of import duties. If you’re MAGA, give your fearless leader a calculator and tech him how to use it!

US and International skier-days…

For the ski season ending now, the United States have tallied around 61.5 million “skier-days”. It’s a bit better than last year (60.4) but not as good as our record-breaking 2022-2023 winter season when we hit 64.7 million. 

For those readers not too familiar, a "skier-day" refers to a day of skiing purchased at a ski area. It's a unit of measure used to track the number of skiers visiting a particular resort. For example, a season pass is often considered to be used an average of 20 skier-days. Another way to define it, is a count of how many skiers are using a ski area on a given day, for an entire ski season, essentially a unit of measurement for the number of skiers at a ski resort. 

Since we only have 2025 figures for the US, I drew this table comparing the skier-days at various world ski countries during the 2023-2024 ski season. As you can see on the table, that year, the US happens to be on top. It’s not infrequent that Austria, France and the US battle for that top spot. 

It must also be noted that if only 5% of skiers come to ski in the US from abroad, the picture is vastly different in Europe. France, that it’s 11% cheaper than Austria and 17% cheaper than Switzerland, accounts for 35% of foreign visitors. 

In Austria, an impressive 66% of ski resort guests are foreigners, of which Germans make up by far the largest group, followed by the Netherlands, the UK, and Czechia. Italy is close with 54% foreign skier visits, being particularly popular with Polish, Czech, American, British, and German tourists. 

Japan’s growing market from Australia and America is booming, while its domestic market is falling away. An aging demographic is not being replaced by younger generations in sufficient numbers. While foreign tourists are boosting the dwindling numbers of local skiers (around 50% these days), many Japanese resorts are reaching a point of fatigue with foreign skiers and boarders due to their disrespectful attitudes. 

As for Switzerland where a record 35% of the population skis, foreign visitors keep declining (they’re only 37% now) as a strong Swiss Franc has resulted in many leaving to ski and board in cheaper Alpine regions, like Austria, Italy, or France.

A pop song I can relate to…

Last night my wife and I heard “Susanna” on our sound system sung by the Italian Adriano Celentano. Even though we both know and love The Art Company’s version even better, we fully enjoyed the tune. "Suzanne" (titled as "Susanna" for the English version) was first released in Dutch in 1981, it became a major hit in the Netherlands and Belgium, standing out from typical Dutch-language pop at the time. 

It came from the Dutch band VOF de Kunst, also known as The Art Company, that released the English version in 1984. Creative, in its use of audience participation, it had a slightly rebellious, artsy edge, fitting the post-punk/new wave era while still accessible. The song reached number one on the Single Top 100 in the Netherlands, and did well everywhere else, but France. 

As for me, it’s a song totally emblematic of my never-ending struggle with women when I was coming of age even though it was released more than a decade later. It was also the result of great social observation! The constant clumsiness, awkwardness and counterproductive approach to seduction that was mine and that heralded my youth and often sow discouragement, despair and total misunderstanding of my botched social development as a young adult! 

I could expand further and bore you with familiar details, but if you’ve been young like me in the 60s and early 70s you can see where I’m coming from. So without going any deeper you can gauge the meaning that song still evokes in me…. 

When we need a boost of energy…

Do you also feel that sometimes, we lack the motivation, the interest of moving forward with a project and in spite of its importance, feel incapable of shaking ourselves up and doing what needs to be done? If this is the case, you’re not alone. In spite of my generally good intentions, I sometimes hit some low points and don’t remember how to get restarted or re-energized.

Sure, when it’s a short, temporary situation, I’ll get out of what I’m doing, walk out briskly of my office, into the kitchen, grab a glass of water and get on the outdoor deck to get my blood flowing again. 

However, for the major mental blockage I’m talking about, many “specialists” suggest more physical exercise, longer recreational breaks, better overall discipline or sometimes a special diet or even therapy. I don’t go that far and keep it simple. I look at the situation in the eye and ask myself: “What in the world is holding me up? Am I afraid of tackling that task or this endeavor?” 

That question is always the clincher as I allow myself absolutely no room for unspecified and unwarranted fear or apprehension. I cannot accept being intimidated by a trivial, non life-threatening obstacle, so I muster all of the energy needed to get going again and I roar back to my project. Simple and effective, at least for me!

How we plan trips...

 In our household, I always end up being the trip planner. We all have task that we like and that we end up doing not so badly. That skill, I learned as I traveled an awful lot during my professional life and that was mostly for business, but these days, these times are over as the only travel we do is mostly for fun. 

So here we are: Air fare, rental car, specific sights to see and lodging are so many pieces that need to neatly fit into the puzzle. This of course isn’t easy and the key question is “Where does one start?”

Luckily technology has changed everything and taken most of the drudgery out of trip planning. 

From AI to make sure we don’t miss any important thing to see, to Google to plan the driving, air resources to book the flight and online car rental, not to mention a plethora of travel videos to preview where we want to go and what we wish to see, we’re up against a plethora of tools and options, I would even dare say, far too many things to keep the process simple and easy. 

So wish me luck as I’m in the midst of planning a West Coast trip initiated by a simple visit to the French Consulate in San Francisco to re-issue our French Passports!

When Look quit ski racing…

Half a century ago, Look ski bindings had to make a hard decision in drastically cutting its expensive racing ski program that was the pride and joy of its owner, Mr. Jean Beyl. It’s true that the use by top skier of the Look products put it at the top of the world in terms of reputation and consumer awareness. 

In 1975, Look was already struggling with raising costs (it just built a beautiful and costly new factory) and Salomon was beginning its explosive and successful penetration worldwide with products perfectly targeted to skiers’ needs, cutting badly into Look’s market share and profitability. 

One of Beyl’s acquaintances suggested he hire Philippe Blime, a McKinsey’s consultant, to become his general manager and as expected when these type of folks look at a company's numbers, they suggest some large cuts. Look’s racing service stood up like a sore thumb with its one million dollar a year price tag and its indirect effect on sales. 

I suggested that we could shave a significant amount of its cost by reducing its inefficiencies in pooling our needs with say, a ski manufacturer, but the cost-cutting train had already left the station and my job was to fire all of our servicemen and notify the ski federations of our leaving their respective supplier pools, except in Italy where our distributor accepted to shoulder some of the financial burden. 

Still, the large cut didn’t stop the hemorrhaging of cash and just prolonged the company’s long financial agony, I was given the position of product manager, a new post created for the circumstance, and that was the end of my first job at the helm of Look ski racing service!

Where do we find Faith?

Constantly, I’m wondering whether religious faith is innate, kind of hardwired in us, or shaped by external factors like culture and environment. If we look at the arguments for innate religiosity, we might have evolved to develop a tendency to attribute natural events to supernatural forces, like gods or spirits, just like our ancestors explained thunderstorms as the manifestation of some angry gods. 

There are also theories that assert that our brains are wired to infer others’ thoughts, making belief in invisible, mindful deities intuitive. Some studies have also suggested that spirituality can be inherited while neuroscience finds that temporal lobe stimulation can trigger mystical experiences. Still, I believe that religion is more influenced by cultural and social learning.

The best example is that kids typically adopt the religion and the general culture of their parents. A child born in Saudi Arabia is likely Muslim while born near us in Provo, Utah is more likely to be Mormon! Same thing for me when I was raised in France and had no other choice than being corralled into the Catholic faith. There’s the social aspect of organized religion with its rites and traditions, creating a certain cohesion in communities. 

The most attractive element of religion is that it answers existential anxiety by mitigating the fear of death, to the point, I’m told, that in societies with high mortality rates people tend to be more religious. The reverse is true in countries that are well-run, more advanced and very stable like Scandinavia. Between these two forces, some scholars agree that religiosity arises from both innate tendencies and cultural shaping and claim that our brain structure and cognitive biases make us prone to supernatural beliefs. 

I’m a bit skeptical about that and I believe that it’s culture and social pressures that determines which gods, rituals, or moral systems dominate. Then there are those that bring up near-death experiences, that’s explained by a biological phenomena stemming from oxygen deprivation and leading to the “tunnel of light” stories we’ve all heard about, as the gateway to Christian "heaven" or Buddhist "bardo". 

Along the same lines, there’s of course the effects of prayer and meditation with neurologically measurable effects, but these practices don’t come instinctively as they need to be taught. If it’s certain that religious faith is neither purely innate (like hunger), nor purely learned (like algebra). Instead, certain factors make humans susceptible to supernatural beliefs and our environment determines the specific form those beliefs take. 

What do you think?

Kashmir and the Brits

The recent events in Kashmir have prompted me to search what caused them in the first place. The problem between India and Pakistan regarding Kashmir originates a territorial dispute resulting from the 1947 partition of India. That decision was made by the British government, with Lord Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, playing a key role in implementing the plan. The Muslim representatives supported it, while India’s Gandhi and Nehru did not. 

As Mountbatten rushed the independence timeline, he also made lots of critical errors that haunt both countries to this very day, including keeping partition maps secret, failing to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, and failing to plan for resource sharing. As the British government faced pressure to end its colonial rule in India and was woefully unable to quell growing communal tensions, it decided that partition was the only solution. 

The mess began with Lord Louis Mountbatten, as the appointed Viceroy, who rushed the process, bringing forward the date of independence by ten months, to August 1947. He then implemented a plan to divide the country into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan. 

A British lawyer, Cyril Radcliffe was tasked with drawing the borders of the new states in a similar short time frame. 

He drew lines based on religious demographics, but did a terrible job in areas with mixed populations like Punjab and Bengal, leading to a complex and controversial division. Borders were drawn without local input, splitting villages and rivers.That process was developed around some key mistakes that are still lingering today with the disputed partition of Kashmir. 

First, the partition maps were kept secret by the protagonists, leading to uncertainty and misunderstandings about the new borders. Then, the fate of Jammu and Kashmir, a princely state with a Muslim majority but ruled by a Hindu prince, was left unresolved, contributing to the ongoing tensions that are still unresolved today. To make things worse, there was a lack of planning for how resources and assets would be divided between the two new nations. 

Finally, the accelerated timeline and the short time frame given Radcliffe to draw the borders led to a rushed and chaotic partition process, leading to immense suffering, including a million people killed in religious riots, 15 million displaced, and the creation of deep-seated animosity between India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan became independent on mid August, 1947 while Kashmir conflict began immediately, leading to wars in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999. 

Great Britain has a knack for taking over territories takeovers and causing havoc in that process, from the Indian subcontinent to Palestine among many others. The question we could all ask today, why aren’t the Brits mopping up the messes they create as the move on? Brits just shut up and hope no one remembers this, as as they’re inventing new ways to colonize the best parts of Italy, France, Portugal and Spain as only them know how to!

Three years at the wheel of my Tesla

We’ve now owned our Tesla for three years now and I love the car to the point that I wouldn’t go back to an ICE powered vehicle ever! An absolute No-no! 

Still, I’ll admit that it took me some time to get familiar and effective with its touch-screen, but the car now has very few secrets left for me to discover. It says a lot about what the car can do for me in spite of his association with the individuals I despise the most.

So could my next car be a Tesla? No, if it’s still owned by Elon! I don’t want to add one red cent to that horrible man’s wealth, but would look at BYD when my current automobile needs replacement during my lifetime. 

Given some time, it may catch up and overtake Musk’s brand!

“Hola!” Pope Leo XIV!

It’s with relief that I saw that the white smoke didn’t take long to come out into St Peter’s sky when the new Pope was elected, and that he didn’t sound particularly conservative as he said he was going to be continuing his predecessor’s efforts in seeking peace and social justice.

 

Being American, but speaking perfect Italian and even better Spanish, he stands as the antidote to Trump and his sycophants. This is the right direction for the new head of the Catholic Church and the entire world. 

Will he do everything he said, particularly in his quest for peace? Well, time will tell, it might not be that easy, and I would want to keep a lid on my expectations, but in the meantime is choice is felt as a relief from the American chaos...

Do you still love “Take 5”?

I don’t know about you, but I love “Take 5″ and so does my wife. I first heard it in 1961 when I joined the watchmaking school in Cluses, France, no other than from the “N’H Quartet” our school’s jazz band where my school mate Jean-Marie Peyrin played the clarinet. This tune released in 1959 was a huge hit by any standard and was emblematic of the West Coast “cool jazz” sound at the time. 

Paul Desmond had composed one of the greatest alto sounds of all times that sounded quite differently from what came from the east coast in those days. West coast cool jazz was simpler harmonically and tempos were generally not as fast as hard bop. I might be generalizing, but Take Five encapsulated both the cool sound and attitude. 

There are better examples (Bud Shank, Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan) but this was just a fantastic recording. While, unfairly I think, Brubeck wasn't thought of in the same class as some of his peers, Desmond was a genius at using his sound and his use of strong melodic lines and space to develop interesting solos. 

The track was written after the Quartet's drummer, Joe Morello, requested a song in quintuple meter. For those like me who don’t know much about music, a quintuple meter refers to a time signature that contains five beats per measure. It can be either simple or compound, similar to other meters like duple, triple, and quadruple. Simple quintuple meter is most often written as 5/4 or 5/8, while compound quintuple meter is typically written as 15/8. 

Paul Desmond composed the melodies on Morello's rhythms while Brubeck arranged the song. The track's name is derived from its meter, and the injunction, "Take five", meant "Let’s take a break for five minutes". 

Now you’ll know everything next time you happen to hear and enjoy listening to that beautiful piece! 

What’s YMMV?

When I was doing my research on my home network, I ran into an acronym I had never seen before: “YMMV”. Always curious, I immediately checked it out and found that it stood for "Your Mileage May Vary", which is used to acknowledge that an opinion or experience is purely subjective and may differ for others. It implies that what works well for one person might not work as well for someone else, and vice versa. 

In fact, the phrase "Your Mileage May Vary" originally appeared in car commercials to acknowledge that factors like driving conditions, habits, load, tires, ski rack and the car's specific make and model could affect fuel efficiency or mileage as most call it. 

This expression was adopted in social media to precisely express that something that works for the speaker might not work for others, due to individual differences in experience, taste, or circumstances. Something like: "I really like this pair of skis, but YMMV." My driving experience with Tesla was fabulous, but YMMV." 

Good luck in making the best of YMMV!

Solving another technological problem?

For the past six months, I have struggled to solve a problem with our Google smart speakers. Like most users we find these little devices very handy and helpful in answering many questions like how old is Trump or how young is Macron. But mostly, we use it in the morning while we’re having our first coffee in bed, and order the little device to “Play our NPR station” and it gives us brand new updates for the day. 

We’ve been using our smart speakers for more than seven years and they worked pretty well. Four years ago we got a faster internet routers and these magic little speakers kept on working well, except that in larger homes where WiFi signals can be blocked a mesh router is often required to ensure a consistent and reliable Wi-Fi connection throughout the entire area.

Unlike traditional routers that broadcast from a single point, mesh systems use multiple nodes that communicate and work together to create a seamless, wider coverage area and can accommodate frequencies from 2.4 to 5 GHz while keeping the network seamless. 

It worked perfectly until six months ago when it began to sometimes drop the signal and stop unpredictably and frequently enough to become a real nuisance. Going from heaven to hell, so to speak. From the get go, I suspected the functionality of our Google smart speakers or the morning news broadcaster, factory-reset the former and chastised the latter, which tried to help but couldn’t find anything, 

This was until more recently when the same flaw began to appear on other devices, like our TV while we were streaming a movie. That forced me to look well beyond my assumptions and dive into my network. Finally it’s on the Reddit chat room that I finally discovered that the Google Mesh system after a certain time of use exhibited this nasty behavior and had to be replaced. 

All the discussions I followed comforted me in that direction. As a result I ordered a new mesh system and tomorrow, I’ll get the device and will discover if that really was my problem, so just stay tuned!

Sowing uncertainty…

If Trump has achieved only one thing (and he has) it’s disruption and uncertainty, none of the things a citizenry is expecting, deserved and should ever receive from a good leader. 

Of course, most folks will say that he’s so bad that nothing good should be expected from him, and right there, we’re in total agreement! 

As we all know by now, sowing uncertainty brings both opposites to the fore: paralysis and horrible chaos! The man who once called himself the “stable genius” is in fact an unstable imbecile, like that piece of furniture that always wobbles, no matter how you try to wedge one or two of its four legs. 

Such a malfunctioning element must absolutely be replaced as soon as possible...

Pope Donald J Trump?

Trump has jumped deep down into the rabbit hole of megalomania and senility with his latest AI-generated photo of himself dressed as the pope just days after telling reporters that he'd "like to be pope." 

Clearly the man is going crazy, has no emotional intelligence at all (we knew that already) and is making some serious strategic mistake by alienating his most supportive base, the American Catholics, including all of the Supreme Court conservative when he needs them the most! 

The timing is in terribly bad taste as the world mourns what amounts to be the best Pope it ever had, and cardinals from around the world are set to gather in Vatican City to choose his successor as the leader of the Catholic Church. 

Trump, who isn’t Catholic, joked to reporters outside the White House last week that he would like to succeed Francis: "I'd like to be pope. That would be my No. 1 choice," he said. 

The AI-generated image sparked backlash from many, while some of his less intelligent and most terrorized supporters defended it as a joke...

Is it really spring in Park City?

Now that the daffodils are out and white pelicans are stopping over in Park City on their way to Canada, it looks as if winter is officially over and it might be time to dress the part.

This morning was still frosty, but we seem on the path of nicer and warmer weather. 

At least it generally happens during the month of May! In fact, after looking and comparing the night and day temperatures at our home from January 1 through April 30, I found, to my great surprise, that our winter temperatures in these four months were 2.5% colder this year than last, when my perception was totally the opposite. In contrast, that same period in 2023 (record breaking snow year) was 18% colder than this year. 

I’d guess it pays to keep a note on temperatures in order to talk intelligently about them!

What goes into common sense?

By now, if you regularly read this blog, you know that I’m a big fan of common sense! So a question I often ask myself is that one: “If common sense is more a function of pure intellect or rather of emotional intelligence?” I instinctively lean for the latter, as emotional Intelligence is very useful for reading social cues, understanding context, and navigating interpersonal dynamics. 

I find it also helpful in preventing rigid or overly theoretical thinking by considering human behavior and emotions. It also aids in adjusting behavior based on certain situations, like knowing when to speak up or when to just shut up.

On the other hand, pure intellect, IQ or cognitive skills, will help with logical reasoning, factual knowledge, and problem-solving. It also allows us to recognize patterns, anticipate consequences, and make sound judgments. In practical situations, it can be essential for understanding cause-and-effect relationships.

In summary we could argue that common sense is a blend of both pure intellect and emotional intelligence, but I feel that it leans more heavily on practical intelligence—the ability to apply knowledge effectively in everyday situations. 

My view is that common sense might be more than just IQ or emotional intelligence as it can be seen as practical wisdom gained through experience. Someone with high intellect might overcomplicate things, while another with high emotional quotient might prioritize harmony over logic. 

People with strong common sense often have both traits, but excel at making street-smart decisions rather than abstract, or theoretical reasoning.

A long process for one dental implant…

At long last, I finally received my new crown this past Wednesday. Since the time the tooth it replaced was extracted on May 8, 2024, and the bone graft performed on the jawbone, almost one year has passed. Over six and a half months later (November 12), the implant was inserted. The surgeon waited that long to make sure the bone graft had taken well and was stable enough. 

Then on April 2, a digital mapping of the mouth area where the crown would be located was conducted, using advanced scanning technology to create a precise, 3D representation of my surrounding teeth and gums. 

Experts say that the success and longevity of an implant depends more on the quality of its placement than on the implant itself, which means that the most important elements are the time allowed for the bone graft to be complete and the time given at the implant to perfectly bond to the bone, which was the case in my situation and was well worth the longer wait... 

I’d promise to tell you how the crown fitting would go… Today, the dental technician just had to screw in the crown in place and verify that it fit well, bite, clearances and all, and I was done and out of the office in 5 minutes. 

Just impressive is all I have to say!

K2 Revolve or Dalbello Cabrio?

In my quest for finding a boot easy to get in and out of, I’ve finally tried on two models that I thought might help me. I began with the K2 Resolve, a re-incarnation of the old Raichle Flexon, now marketed under the K2 brand and that seems to be popular with the teenagers gravitating around the snow-parks. Perhaps was I subconsciously hoping to rejuvenate myself in the process? 

That might have been possible, but I also quickly found out that passing the cables and closing the buckles around that forward-pivoting plastic tongue required some time and dexterity that I wasn’t willing to provide. 

I then tried its cousin, the Dalbello Cabrio, with a similar forward-articulated tongue, and found it to be almost as difficult to close as the K2, and in addition the fit around my ankles felt terrible. In spite of Marty’s patient efforts at Jan’s, I wasn’t convinced. 

So I was quickly back to square one with few alternatives like the Nordica “mid-entry” HF series or returning to an overlap boot like mine, but if at all possible, easier to put and take off. I’ll keep you apprised of where my continued search takes me...

“Afterlife-free” religions (Part 3)

It’s more than likely that a number of us will be too tired to envision keeping on living after death, so the next question is “Are they belief systems, philosophies or religions that don’t promise eternal life including hell and heaven, after death to their flock?” In doing some research, it appears that this option is available and here’s what I have found. 

If we first look at Buddhism, we find no eternal soul or heaven or hell in the Abrahamic sense: Buddhism teaches anatta (no permanent self or soul). Rebirth (samsara) occurs based on karma, but the ultimate goal is nirvana—liberation from the cycle of rebirth, not eternal life in a paradise. There might be some exceptions but they’re temporary as some Buddhist traditions acknowledge heavenly and hellish realms, but these are impermanent states within samsara, not eternal destinations. 

There’s also Jainism, one of the three oldest religions in India that I didn’t know anything about, that teaches that the path to enlightenment (moksha), is through nonviolence and minimizing harm to all living things. It emphasizes breaking free from the cycle of rebirth through ethical living and asceticism. There is no eternal heaven; the liberated soul (siddha) exists in a state of pure consciousness, not a physical paradise. 

My favorite is Taoism that focuses on harmony in this life. Classical Taoism is more concerned with living in harmony with the Dao (the Way) than with afterlife and its rewards and punishments. Confucianism stresses moral behavior and social harmony in this life. Ancestor veneration is practiced, but there’s no detailed theology of heaven and hell or eternal life. 

To my surprise was the modern Unitarian Universalism Church that has roots in liberal Christian thought and is primarily a North American tradition, with most congregations located in the United States. It has no dogmatic afterlife beliefs, but encourages individual exploration of meaning and does not impose a unified belief about the afterlife. Some members may reject entirely the concept of heaven and hell. Obviously, ancient Greek & Roman where Stoics emphasized virtue in life, while Epicureans saw death as the end of consciousness. Neither promised eternal rewards or punishments. 

Finally we all know about Humanism, Atheism, and Agnosticism that aren’t religions per se, but reject supernatural afterlife claims, focusing instead on ethical living in the present. In conclusion, many Eastern traditions (Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism) and some modern philosophical currents stay away from the heaven and hell duality, focusing instead on liberation, ethical living, or acceptance of impermanence. 

Meanwhile, secular approaches reject afterlife promises altogether. Now, you have all the information you need to fine-tune, change or adopt your favorite belief system!