Ushering in my 64th ski season...

I've been remiss in not keeping you informed of our warmer than usual November. Blame it on the Presidential election and also on the fact that I have decided not to commiserate anymore about things I can't control, like weather-related issues!

That's right, for the first 3 weeks of November, the weather felt just like September and, in the very end, Park City only had 4 to 5 days to scramble and make enough snow to cover one single run.

Needless to say that the snow-covered area was packed on this opening day! After watching a video of the scene shot around 11 am, I wondered if it would be wise to risk my bones, joints and perhaps life.

But being the adventurous guy that I am, I managed to get out and ski from 2 pm until the last chair and had my full share of fun among skiers “exploding” from all sides and finding my way, more by the grace of God, than by sheer luck and evasive maneuvers...

Is a dead commie a good one?

I've hesitated a bit before picking this title, but I've little sympathy for communism and its ruling despots.

This said, I've always found Fidel Castro a bit of a cartoonish character in his later years. He probably was every bit as bad as before and still directing his thugs from his death bed, but in my eyes, he had somehow become an anachronism in the digital age.

The man was determined to cling on power, the past and his flawed ideology, just like modern-day Iranian ayatollahs keep on doing. I will only miss his active modeling career, sporting brightly colored training suits, mostly Adidas branded.

The German sport shoe company owes him a debt of gratitude and should cut the Cuban people a huge check to pay for the farewell tour of “El Comandante's” ashes around the island!

Good communication isn't easy!

When I became a ski instructor in my native France, we went through a highly selective and grueling training, mostly focused on skiing technique. In other words, you needed to be or become an excellent skier (in those days) to have a shot a becoming a ski instructor.

Just like Christians, French ski instructors had to study their own bible called “Mémento du Ski Français” that captured the art, the essence and the “theology” of “selling turns” to the public. That piece of literature was no easy read and was written in technical jargon that required to be adapted by the savvier instructors in order to communicate it understandably to their students. It's also true that pedagogy wasn't top priority at the time.

A couple of days ago, I discovered that an updated version of that manual had been released, not just in print, but also available on line. I jumped on it and I tried to discover what was new and hip; as I delved into the material, I discovered that the entire piece was written in gobbledygook instead of in a style that readers would be able to comprehend without focusing and pondering like crazy on each and every word.

I'm pretty good with foreign languages, but there, I was just lost! Skiing is already a counter-intuitive sport and if it's not explained in ways the student can directly relate, see and feel by using images and simple terminology, learning becomes even harder.

I hope the French skis instructors that must study their updated method are resourceful enough to translate it into a practical language that speaks loudly to their students' mind eyes and physical senses!

Do you still have a landline?

A Facebook friend of mine asked that question to his many buddies and here are some of the most interesting responses he received:

“What's a landline?”
“No, but my 82yr old mother does!”
“Yes......when I lose my cell phone, it is a Godsend!”
“I have a pay phone out front.”
“Got rid of the land line years ago and guess what? The annoying sales calls at dinner time stopped!” “Being Italian, I have a line on the South facing balcony on which I hang clothes. A receiver on the roof for high speed internet and a cell phone.”
“Yes for all the phone solicitors to call- we never answer it.”
“In 5 years we have built 240 new homes in Michigan. Only 3 of those homeowners have installed land lines. Mine has been gone for years.”
“We do. We have to have a phone to take all those political calls.”
“Yes. Bad reception out in the country.”
“Is that the rope attached to a life preserver?”

Then, my answer:

“I don't get many telegrams these days, I sure still have a fixed line but I think I'll dump my telex in 2017 and my fax in 2020...”

Now, what's your response?

Celebrating Thanksgiving for the 40th time!

Our first Thanksgiving spend in America was in 1977. So today will be our 40th celebration of this quintessential American Holiday.

In spite of our best efforts, we can't recollect where we spent that first “Turkey Day”.

Did we just stay home, my wife and I, or were we invited to partake in the festivities? We frankly have no recollection at all, but I guess we were discovering the idiosyncrasies of our new life in the New World.

Today we know the full Pilgrim story and while we were not fleeing religious persecution by any means.

White Plains was our Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower had been a Swissair DC10 that took us to Kennedy Airport...

The “One-Sale” Salesman

Most of us have dealt with a wide variety of sales people over the years and in so doing, have seen a huge variety of different styles at work.

Arguably, the best one would be the one that truly tried to build a sincere rapport with the customer in order to foster a long-term relationship that would unavoidably lead – as a nice bonus – into multiple, pleasant transactions.

At the opposite end of that spectrum is the sales guy that has to make the sale no matter what it takes. Do accomplish that he or she will lie, cheat, deceive, insult, harass and bully. This sales approach is generally unexpected and most people facing it are so taken aback and ill-prepared that they can't handle it.

Chances are, the thug will trample them, may very well win the contest and ultimately get the sale, but this will be a Pyrrhic victory, or in more prosaic terms, a one-time sale.

Is Berlusconi a preview of Trump?

Both began in real estate, are unfashionably sexists, have hair issues, had extensive cosmetic work, don't like Muslims, are billionaires and are Putin's fans.

So when I watched “My Way”, a documentary on Netflix, last night, I couldn't help but attempt to “connect the dots” and projecting a Trump presidency as rough and chaotic as the Italian Prime Minister's leadership, antics and fall from grace and power.

Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a repeat of that crash with Trump and wouldn't be the only one. The documentary is well constructed but fails to clearly explain the downfall of Silvio Berlusconi as it was allegedly orchestrated by Christine Lagarde, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy.

I'll have to do more research on the subject...