Is there a way to reasonably “consume” Facebook?

If you are of average intelligence, you might have already concluded that Facebook is an incredible time-waster and that besides being a tool for narcissism, voyeurism and a host of not-so-desirable attributes, there are a lot of good reasons of spending little time on it, or better yet, severing all ties with that service.

Of course, sheer curiosity remains a strong enticement to stay linked to the addictive monster. Some might also call it “fear of missing out”.

In the middle of that reality, is there a “wise way” to consume the medium? I honestly don't know. I've tried to stay away from it and that hasn't lasted long.

Perhaps, should I behave like 95% of my Facebook “friends” by taking the passive attitude of reviewing it daily, but abstaining from posting anything. I'll try that!

Accepting what we don't control, and more

One of the skills mature age brings us is acceptance.

When we're young, we aren't accepting anything unpleasant that come our way and even if it's far beyond our control, we still want to turn around the disappointment, the hurdle or the loss.

As maturity sets in, our ability to accept issues that heretofore were totally out of the question, starts being challenged.

We slowly train ourselves to the idea of accepting a tiny more, until the unacceptable or unthinkable become an easy common place. Our mindset is quickly transforming and, all of a sudden, we adapt to the idea of accepting many more things than ever before.

Of course, we should have known long ago that anything we don't control should be de facto accepted, and we've lost too much valuable time and resources trying to fight the insurmountable.

In the course of getting familiarized with our new acceptance skills, we often accept things that might be worth a fight, but that we find trivial enough to let go and totally unworthy to getting all upset about them...

Park City celebrates its mining legacy

Today is Labor Day, but in Park City, it's called Miner's Day, because our town was created from the mines that crisscrossed its subterranean territory and that extractive activity has made our mountain enclave what it still is today. So, this Monday stands as our 119th annual Park City Miner's Day celebration.

A nice way to acknowledge an old western mining town where billions in silver came out of the ground.  For us, this is our 32nd Miner's Day celebration. When we attended it in 1985, we had lived in the community for just a couple of weeks and like today, the weather was cool, almost cold, but with blue skies.

At six in the morning, we were awaken by a series of dynamite blasts and after the traditional parade peppered with politicians vying for office, we were treated to the traditional drilling and mucking contest at the City's Park and discovered what Park City's heritage was all about.

Today, the dynamite reveille is long gone, we might go biking instead of watching the parade, but we'll still celebrate Miner's Day in our hearts by thinking how far the struggling little ski town from the mid-80s has come and made place to modern and striving mountain paradise...

HT or FS?

Hard-tail (HT) or full-suspension (FS)? That's my mountain-bike question of the day. My bike mechanic told me that the current bicycle I use “is shot” and I need something new. Problem is, I'm not getting any younger and my needs come with multifaceted requirements.

I'd like to keep riding till I'm in my early 70s, plus I don't want to spend a fortune on a new bike and yet, I'd love to get a lightweight little machine instead of the slug I push up the hills these days.

I know that older folks like me appreciate the comfort of full-suspension, but could my kind of trails, that are gentler and smoother, absolve any portion of that requirement and let me ride a HT?

Tough to decide, and the more I wait, the older I get and if I don't make a decision, I might miss on this fall's attractive mountain-bike sales...

More about mountain goats...

To those folks that hear about mountain goats for the first time and wonder what kind of animal it is, I usually say that it's the American equivalent of the chamois. Sure-footed, high-mountain dweller and elusive, both share very similar traits, but are they quite the same?

Are they to goats what a mountain bike is to a road bike? Not really, according to scientists. To be considered a true goat, an animal must be a member of the genus Capra. The chamois (Rupicapra), like sheep and goats, are part of the goat-antelope subfamily (Caprinae) of the family Bovidae.

North American mountain goats, however, are the sole species of the genus Oreamnos. Yet, this Latin genus name doesn't tell us if a mountain goat is a “true” goat. Oreamnos literally means "mountain lamb," which is a misnomer since goats are different than sheep.

Generally, people have a tendency of lumping mountain goats as a genetic cross between normal goats and antelopes, or goat-antelopes, just like our American pronghorn (these being reminiscent, because of their coat color, of the European chamois).

However, molecular studies also have linked mountain goats to muskox (sounds like a stretch, although some could find visual similarities). Scientists also assert that mountain goats share skeletal characteristics with a bovine species called rupicaprids.

Those are a subset of the animal family Caprinae, which includes oxen, sheep and true goats. Mountain goats are the only rupicaprids in North America. Their predecessors crossed over the Bering land bridge from Asia 40,000 years ago.

Today, five species comprise the tribe: the goral, the Japanese serow, the chamois and our American mountain goat; all share the same antelope ancestry. Each looks quite different from one another though, except for the signature horns, pronghorn excepted. So, in the end, chamois and mountain goats comes back in full circle and I wasn't that off when I lumped them together...

Skiing not keeping up with inflation!

I just looked at next winter season's rates from our nearby ski resorts and noticed that they raised their prices by 4%. Interesting is the least we can say.

Inflation may not even be at 1% this year. Are they raising their personnel salary by that much? Great if they pass the increase through their people, but frankly, I doubt it.

These lift companies are quietly pushing the envelope until people begin voting with their feet (excuse me, skis) and start taking up some alternative activity. Nothing impressive at all!

Mt. Timpanogos' postman...

Climbing to the top of Mt. Timpanogos seems like a long, late-summer tradition as I have performed the climb several time. Yesterday was my 9th time and it was the 4th time for my daughter.

My wife and I started the climb in 1995 and this is a grueling hike that I have always enjoyed. I have chronicled this climb in 2012, 2014 and 2015.

Last year, we met a 73 year-old man who had climbed the mountain several hundred times. He almost does it everyday in summer and this year, we once more ran into him. This time he was 74 and had ascended Mt. Timp (as most people call it) some 837 times!

Ben Woolsey is a retired postal worker from Orem (near Provo, Utah) who makes the 15-mile round trip hike up to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos three to six times per week during the hiking season.

Over the years Ben has become a familiar face on the mountain, earning the nickname “That Guy,” meaning "that guy" that is always hiking Timp. Ben is an inspiring character whose performance leaves absolutely no room for excuse or complains for all of us who are his juniors!