The (better) way to fight climate change

While we were in Europe, “climate change”, not Trump, was the daily topic of choice.
I have written a lot about the subject, but it’s still worth repeating that CO2 emissions aren’t the problem.

The problem is that there are far too many of us on a planet that has become too tight for accommodating such a massive human presence and its unlimited thirst for expansion and domination. Right, overpopulation, not CO2 emissions, is the REAL problem, or if you prefer it, the Elephant in the Room.

Do I suggest that we annihilate two-third of humanity in one scoop?

Not at all. I recommend that instead, we take some strong, widespread and global measures to limit and control births, so we can begin to slow down planetary population increase before we can successfully reduce it and when that’s done, begin to significantly shrink the entire world population.

Closing up the yard for the season

We love to spend time in our yard between our rockscape, our flowers and veggie garden. This is at least a six month affair that’s now coming to a close.

Yesterday, I mowed our grass for the last time while my wife was cutting all the wilted plants in an effort to prepare the ground for blowing the leaves off in a couple of weeks.

Another season is awaiting and life goes on!

Have we become “Unbossable”?

The other day, as we were riding a taxi, the driver asked us a lot of questions, some of them quite personal, so I got irritated and when she asked me: “What did you do prior to being retired?”

I answered “This would take far too long to explain, suffice to say that we’re retired, we don’t need to stress about work any more and we certainly don’t miss our bosses. In fact, we’ve become ‘unbossable’. Right, we can no longer be bossed around”.

I thought my response was quite brilliant and I’m so proud that what to seem like an impossible dream to get rid of our bosses has finally arrived and that we’ve now become totally “unbossable”!

The absurd American healthcare system

On August 29, 2019, I visited my family doctor at the Park City Health Clinic, for my annual check up. Since I am a Medicare patient, I expected that preventive care visit to be at no cost to me.

Upon my return from vacation, I discovered bill for just $5.84 for settling the service, which appeared to be the excess amount my coverage refused to pay. Granted, this amount is peanuts, but that still pushed me to call the medical office to get some explanation, just for the principle.

When I did, I was told that this was the result of the network doctor asking me certain questions that were billed to Medicare and tipped the allowable amount above what Medicare was willing to pay.

This practice does sound like a patently idiotic excuse. I immediately asked the service provider to shed a light on this weird practice and explain how it justifies it, in ways a normal human being would understand it, that is based on good common sense.

I can’t wait to read their answer!

Do I still miss France?

Over the years and as time goes by, my attachment to France, the old country has been waning and today, after I left the hometown I grew up in, there is no longer the bittersweet feeling associated it with leaving a place that is dear to my heart.

It’s true that over the years, the Morzine region has undergone an insane rate of growth that takes away far too much of the old charm that once made that place so attaching.

It’s also true that after leaving more than 42 years in America and 34 in Park City alone, my hometown is slowly but surely fading away inside my heart...

The long road back home…

Going to Europe and to France is a lot of fun, but getting there and returning are always a grueling experience.

I prepare myself the best I can for the long, eleven hour flight between Paris and Salt Lake City, but watching the airline GPS is like watching grass grow.

Then, upon arrival, there are still the customs and emigration to clear, with all of their high tech and inconvenient tools, the bags to claim and the long ride home.

How could I have done 26 European round trips in the same year back in 1986?

The End of the World?

Have you ever traveled to the end of the world?

Not really, but I always thought I had gotten pretty close over all of my wandering years.

Well, there’s always something new to discover and our hosts, Chantal and Jean-François, were determined to take us there and show us a place I totally ignored even though I used to live 10 miles – as the crow flies – from an incredibly picturesque spot called “Le Bout du Monde” (the End of the World).

By the road, it takes about one hour to get there and then, there’s another one and a half hour hike to what would be our picnic spot with a fabulous vantage point.