What's an American Conservative?

Most of the midterm election results are in, and with them comes a better understanding about who voted for what.

In a nutshell, the Conservative Republican, or Trumpist voter was mostly white, male, old, uneducated more religious and rural.

Its Democrat or Progressive counterpart was racially diverse, female, young, well-educated, more secular and urban or suburban dweller.

Yes, we're proud to announce that Park City was in that second camp!

Enough said, but this suggests to me that the days of the Trumpist, Conservative Republicans are counted. It will take time, we'll be patient, but we'll get there.

Politics, disappointment and survival...

The mid-term elections brought back some normality within the United States without quite repudiating Trump.

Yet, I would have liked to see more, like a huge tidal wave, but it didn't happen and shows that our country still has a core of old, ignorant, white nationalists who take the time (like me) to go out and vote, unlike a vast majority of folks that should and... don't!

The “orange-hair-man” wrecking ball will keep on swinging for a while, but like anything in life, this too will pass, life will go on and progress will return.

My health and that of my family is good, that's what counts and even baby steps back out of the void are better than nothing.

Thanks for the Left Coast!

Last night we watched the election returns until about 9 pm, and until that time, nothing looked too great.

Sure, the Northern portion of the United States supplied some Democrat relief, but the middle was depressingly red.

That was without counting California, Oregon or Washington, that we call West Coast, but is better know as the “Left Coast”.

Once more, the “Left Coast” saved the evening!

These insane real estate prices

At desirable places, real estate prices are insane; they keep on climbing even though the number of sales seem to stagnate, that economic reality appears to have no effect on the law of supply and demand, which normally should turn prices down.

At the same time, real estate in undesirable places can't seem to appreciate and not much selling is going on there, either. This is true within two countries that I know well: France and the United States.

Urban areas with a healthy job market and recreational places by the sea, or in the mountains, are enjoying these skyrocketing prices that seem impervious to interest hikes that are now pushing up again.

These seemingly contradictory trends would suggest that with more super-rich individuals coveting the same quantity of prime real estate, that trend is likely to stay.

So the takeaway is that the old adage: “location, location, location” has never been so potent and with a growing world population, the good real estate is likely to remain in very short supply and its price pushing up higher and higher.

Is polling still working?

I don't know about you, but I ignore all the pesky calls that flood my phones, especially during electoral campaign time.

Many of them are from pollsters and even though I value good polls, I simply don't want to be tied up for minutes on the phone at dinner time!

This, of course, leads me to believe that if a large number of voters are like me, where do pollsters get the information they seek?

Whatever they are able to gather and how they have to go about it make me even more skeptical...

After the 2016 Trump debacle, I have decided to ignore the polls, but my intuition tells me that there will be a big surprise spurred by Donald Trump himself, but not necessarily in the direction, he'd wish to see.

We'll discover it this evening...

Lessons learned at the Ski Swap

For half a dozen years, I haven't missed one Park City Ski Swap. This year, as it was the 46th anniversary of the event, I noticed less attendees and a poorer selection than usual. Maybe online sales, end-of-ski-season sales, and stuff found around places like Costco, are somehow cutting into the interest skiers had for this kind of event.

At any rate, I was intent on buying a new pair of ski and had clear specs in mind: no more than 180 cm long, as lightweight as possible, and around 80 mm at the waist. I found all of this in a pair of 180 cm, Dynastar Legend X80, that I paid $428.35, versus some $600 at retail, but that was until I discovered, later on, that I could have bought it today, online, via evo.com for only $323.97 including shipping!

Okay, I made a mistake, but don't regret the entry fee that goes to the Park City Ski Team. Next time, though, I'll make sure to use my smart phone and the check current prices for the product I've found and want to purchase.

This said, much more than shopping for skis, ski swaps are fabulous for trying on a wide variety of ski-boot models and taking as much needed time to do so. The brand and model selection at these events is huge, and certainly much larger than at any ski retailers. The procedure should be the same as for ski. Find the model and size needed and compare with what's available on the web.

This way you can't lose. Have fun shopping!

Overpopulation at a spot near you

If you don't believe in overpopulation, travel to Asia, particularly to urban areas, like Tokyo and its 38 million folks, or climb Mont-Blanc, Matterhorn or Everest and you'll soon discover that there are no quiet places anymore.

If your tastes are closer to home, go to any park, picturesque venue or popular shopping area, and you'll be choked by the crowds. There's no longer any place to hide!

Our planet is bulging at its seams and yet no one talks about it, as if it were politically incorrect. Yet, as we wonder what to do about pollution or greenhouse emissions, the conversation should start with curbing the earth's population.

Why don't we start a conversation about it?