sports----is it possible to have a healthy relationship with kids sports these days?
I don't know.
Things I do know:
1. there are a ton of cool sports kids can do with high level coaches and serious competition. Back in my day it was dad's coaching kids, we played in jeans, and most of the competition was a bike ride away.
2. back in the day the cost was next to nothing. Maybe $25 to play baseball including the tee shirt. No travel fees. No coaches gift. No tournament fees. Sometimes parents watched games but usually not and we usually rode our bikes to practices and games. And yes a couple of the guys I played with and against went on to play AAA pro ball having pitched for some big 8 (dating myself) college powerhouses.
3. Fast forward to today where parents seem to be at many of the practices, spend a ton of money and time and the odds of your kid getting a scholarship or playing pro have gone way down. But worst of all agro sports parents have exploded. But don't blame the parents---it's really the system that has evolved slowly but surely to a horrible horrible place.
Why am I thinking sport as the holidays arrive? My son is a kinda a high end sailor. 'Kinda' what does that mean? Well he races in a lot of the top level regattas, one of which he is heading to today in Miami. He will be racing against 85 other boats from as far away as Ireland, and as close as Miami. Most of the kids he is competing against live within 30 miles of the water. They race 8-12 months out of the year. They have often been racing with the same partner for years (although some switch teammates faster than employees turnover in the White House.--always searching for something better). Some kids use crap hulls and the same sails for a year or two (mine for example). Other kids get 3-6 new hulls a year and new sails for each race. While equipment isn't everything, for high level racing a new sail and a super fast bottom can make a HUGE difference. Figure a new boat and sails at 10k per, while new sails maybe 1k. Then there are the travel costs (10 nights of hotel room for this race, airfare and car rental). For OB figure $5k for travel. Then cost of boat and coaches and clinic fees and race fees. Call that 1.5k. So if we buy the boy new sails for the season and I want to amortize that over 5 races let's say the cost of him racing in the Orange Bowl is close to $7k.
One race.
Then midwinters in Florida which is much shorter (4-5 days) figure that is $3.5k and then the summer of racing is maybe another $8k and the total is about $19k for him to race for a season. Multiply that by 4 years and we are close to $80k for his high school sailing experience. OMG. And I am a cheap parent not buying new boats, not buying lots of new sails, not buying much in the way of equipment and assuming no major issues. $80k. WTF. And then you wonder why parents get agitated when their kid acts like a kid and not a professional and gets silly. Or doesn't fight for his exposure, coaching, position on the line etc. It's a big investment to make without getting emotionally drawn in. And not only are we cheap in terms of what we buy him, we are not making a big time investment, because we are so far away from the water we can't, don't, helicopter him or the coaches. There are parents who homeschool their kids and travel the circuit to give their kids the best opportunity to succeed. If you think I can get frustrated with my kid or his coaches, just think about the parent who has tailored their life around their kids sport. Healthy? Not a chance.
I don't have a good solution to all of this. I do believe being aware of the issue and aware of the trap you can get sucked into is a good first step towards remembering its just kids sports. The goal should be having fun, getting exercise, learning how to work as a team, having a healthy view towards competition (winning is good but it's hardly everything, and not everyone can win).
That said I would really like to see the boy finish in the top half. And then turn some college coaches heads and have some good meetings at college night (with Yale and Harvard and Stanford and MIT and Brown), and maybe given that he is doing that well while living in CO and only sailing 3 months out of the year maybe then...............oh fuck there I go again.
Have fun, sail strong and maybe meet a cute girl.
and if you want to get a feel for what a race looks like this is a pretty good vid of nationals from last summer
c420 nationals Waino
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
confessions of a parent
I can't judge a debate. No fucking way. I thought I could. I said I would. And then I saw what was involved and I ran away.
Taking a step back. My son is taking debate class and going to some debate contests (meets, games, competitions I don't even know what they are called). Kinda like with my son's sailing it's pretty great cause I have no clue about debating (or sailing). So I don't yell at the judges, kids, coaches etc. I got no clue. Very health.
But they needed some judges at the most recent debate in Avon so I said sure if no skill is necessary. The coach said yea anyone can do it and thank you. I would suggest he misrepresented what was necessary. I would be a single judge responsible for:
1. timing (including opening speeches, rebuttals and closing speeches along with giving each debater 15 and 30 second countdown warnings)
2. judging content
3. judging application of debate rules (what rules---I don't fucking know the rules)
4. Providing written notes and comments regarding presentation and adherence to rules
5. ording teams and submitting results
For 30 debates.
OMG I said no way. I also think it kinda sucks for these kids to work really hard (I think my son does more work for debate than he does for Aeronautics, Advanced Geometry, English, History and Biology combined) and then be judged by a clueless parent.
Other interesting observations:
1. my son cares about his grades. And this sure didn't come from anything his parents did or did not do. And he didn't use to care at all---he used to skip school in Chicago to go to 7/11. He gets full credit for this pleasant metamorphosis, while I scratch my head and wonder where this came from.
2. Both my wife and I went to hyper-competitive high schools. AHS not so much. In my son's history class the teacher offered to give extra credit to any and all students who went to listen to a 4 star general and Fox commentator speak about the US-Syrian policy, and wrote up their observations. My son went because he was interested in the subject matter and very interested in the extra credit. A girl went who was interested in my son. And that was it---the other 73 kids who are taking that class took a pass. At Choate or Burroughs 90% of the class would have attended ---here is less than 5%. It's kinda nice that every 9th grade kid isn't worrying about college admission, but who is my son going to talk to about Assad?
3. My son has worn shorts to school every day this year. Guess that really isn't that unusual.
Taking a step back. My son is taking debate class and going to some debate contests (meets, games, competitions I don't even know what they are called). Kinda like with my son's sailing it's pretty great cause I have no clue about debating (or sailing). So I don't yell at the judges, kids, coaches etc. I got no clue. Very health.
But they needed some judges at the most recent debate in Avon so I said sure if no skill is necessary. The coach said yea anyone can do it and thank you. I would suggest he misrepresented what was necessary. I would be a single judge responsible for:
1. timing (including opening speeches, rebuttals and closing speeches along with giving each debater 15 and 30 second countdown warnings)
2. judging content
3. judging application of debate rules (what rules---I don't fucking know the rules)
4. Providing written notes and comments regarding presentation and adherence to rules
5. ording teams and submitting results
For 30 debates.
OMG I said no way. I also think it kinda sucks for these kids to work really hard (I think my son does more work for debate than he does for Aeronautics, Advanced Geometry, English, History and Biology combined) and then be judged by a clueless parent.
Other interesting observations:
1. my son cares about his grades. And this sure didn't come from anything his parents did or did not do. And he didn't use to care at all---he used to skip school in Chicago to go to 7/11. He gets full credit for this pleasant metamorphosis, while I scratch my head and wonder where this came from.
2. Both my wife and I went to hyper-competitive high schools. AHS not so much. In my son's history class the teacher offered to give extra credit to any and all students who went to listen to a 4 star general and Fox commentator speak about the US-Syrian policy, and wrote up their observations. My son went because he was interested in the subject matter and very interested in the extra credit. A girl went who was interested in my son. And that was it---the other 73 kids who are taking that class took a pass. At Choate or Burroughs 90% of the class would have attended ---here is less than 5%. It's kinda nice that every 9th grade kid isn't worrying about college admission, but who is my son going to talk to about Assad?
3. My son has worn shorts to school every day this year. Guess that really isn't that unusual.
Sunday, December 16, 2018
warning .....I am going political
and not local political although on the local front it does seem that ASD (aspen school district's) head of HR has been terminated (or is on paid leave pending resolving her suit for unlawful termination). Just a reminder this is the head of HR who pleaded guilty to crimes related to her last job and had zero relevant experience (making the typical leap from family law practice and criminal to head of HR for a district school).
Also the superintendent's employment contract was not renewed. A win for common sense.
Now to Trump.
But first a word from my son's debate class--one of the subjects he is debating is 'should all US mail be inspected for weapons?' My son's research showed that in the past 20 years there have been 5 deaths due to mail born weapons (those would be anthrax in 2001). Compare that to 48k deaths from opiate overdoses or 14.5k deaths from firearm homicides last year. Spending money on making mail safe (or safer) is a cure in search of a problem. And yes there were some bombs sent recently and over the past 20 years but most of those were ineffective and or stopped. Our current systems are working pretty well keeping us safe from the mail.
Which brings us to Trump and his big beautiful wall. Believe it or not ISIS is not bringing across thousands of trained terrorists and weapons through the southern border. If there were, we would be seeing those terrorists on FOX news 24/7. Much like the mail system, our current immigration system has done a very good job of keeping terrorists, gang members, and bad actors out. Its not perfect, yes a few bad actors slip through. Yes drugs slip through. But the drug problem isn't coke from Colombia, its oxy from US pharma. If ISIS or gang members do slip through, they don't need to worry about bringing weapons with them, they can find all the weapons they need on the US side of the border. Trump wants $5 billion to start building the wall or he will shut down the government. Figure maybe $15-20 billion to build the wall in total, another $2-3 to man and maintain the wall per year. And while millions seem like rounding numbers lets not forget the $200 million or so to send the Army to the border as an election stunt. All this spending from the party that solves every problem by cutting taxes, and then bitches about the deficit.
To my GOP friends:
1. You support a party that wanted an unfunded procyclical tax cut that is blowing up the deficit (and then you are surprised that interest rates go up)
2. Your party is anti free trade
3. You support a president whose foreign policy is to play kissy face with Russia and N Korea and MBS
4. You seem to accept that the president is above the law
What has happened to the GOP?
tomorrow I promise no politics
Also the superintendent's employment contract was not renewed. A win for common sense.
Now to Trump.
But first a word from my son's debate class--one of the subjects he is debating is 'should all US mail be inspected for weapons?' My son's research showed that in the past 20 years there have been 5 deaths due to mail born weapons (those would be anthrax in 2001). Compare that to 48k deaths from opiate overdoses or 14.5k deaths from firearm homicides last year. Spending money on making mail safe (or safer) is a cure in search of a problem. And yes there were some bombs sent recently and over the past 20 years but most of those were ineffective and or stopped. Our current systems are working pretty well keeping us safe from the mail.
Which brings us to Trump and his big beautiful wall. Believe it or not ISIS is not bringing across thousands of trained terrorists and weapons through the southern border. If there were, we would be seeing those terrorists on FOX news 24/7. Much like the mail system, our current immigration system has done a very good job of keeping terrorists, gang members, and bad actors out. Its not perfect, yes a few bad actors slip through. Yes drugs slip through. But the drug problem isn't coke from Colombia, its oxy from US pharma. If ISIS or gang members do slip through, they don't need to worry about bringing weapons with them, they can find all the weapons they need on the US side of the border. Trump wants $5 billion to start building the wall or he will shut down the government. Figure maybe $15-20 billion to build the wall in total, another $2-3 to man and maintain the wall per year. And while millions seem like rounding numbers lets not forget the $200 million or so to send the Army to the border as an election stunt. All this spending from the party that solves every problem by cutting taxes, and then bitches about the deficit.
To my GOP friends:
1. You support a party that wanted an unfunded procyclical tax cut that is blowing up the deficit (and then you are surprised that interest rates go up)
2. Your party is anti free trade
3. You support a president whose foreign policy is to play kissy face with Russia and N Korea and MBS
4. You seem to accept that the president is above the law
What has happened to the GOP?
tomorrow I promise no politics
Friday, December 7, 2018
what would my 18 year old self say to my 51 year old self
Punch line---I called the cops on the party next door.
Last Saturday night my son and I came home around 10:30. As we got close to the house I saw cars parked all along the street. Lots and lots of cars. More than I have ever seen my in hood. I figured someone was having a party. Turns out the someone was the kid in the duplex we share a wall with. It was kinda loud, but not tooo loud in our bedroom (my son's walls were shaking pretty good though). And the party was just winding up--kids were coming in, not leaving and some smart high schoolers were taking a cab to avoid the drunk driving issue (or they weren't old enough to drive).
After a quick chat with the wife, I decided to call in the law. I didn't really want to bang on the door and ask them to keep it down and please not damage my property. Shoot, in this day and age I didn't want to risk getting shot for going up to someone's door (ok I wasn't really worried about that). Then things got all 21st century.
Prior to making the call I asked my son what he thought--he went on his phone and was able to quickly figure out who might be there (for AHS who read this blog he didn't reveal any names), and he indicated that many of the party goers were serious partiers. Ok, so it's not the board game club (yes the school has a board game club) having a parent supervised gathering (son laughing hard in background).
About 2 minutes after I called in the heat the kids started fleeing the scene. Way before the police arrived. I asked my son what he thought happened and he suggested kids coming to the party saw the police heading their way and texted a warning.
Within 5-10 minutes they were all gone (quietly I might add which was a pleasant surprise).
The next day the kids mom is banging on our door. She tears my wife a new one about calling the police on the party. Why didn't we call her first? Why did we call the cops at all. hummmmmm.
Why didn't we call her first---well if she is there and overseeing a party where kids are drinking and doing drugs, she doesn't seem like a great point of contact to correct the situation. If she isn't there (which she wasn't) I am not sure what she would have done.
Why call the cops---well as it turns out, some of the states I have lived in have this thing called social host laws which means that the parents (and other adults) can be held responsible for underage drinking that occurs on their property. Also if you know that underage drinking is going on and do nothing there is a chance that you can be held liable in these states. It turns out that Colorado is not a state with aggressive social host laws, but I really didn't want to do that research at 11 pm. I also didn't want to risk damage in their property flowing into my property.
So yea I called the fuzz. When I was 18 I was the one having the party (mom traveled a lot for work). Now I am the grumpy old guy calling the cops.
PS driving in St. Louis a little buzzed was never ok, but shoot we weren't driving on winding mountain roads in the snow. 5 Aspen High school kids were in this car---they are all ok ----holy shit safety technology has improved---back in the 80s I bet 3 out of 5 are dead. I kinda wished they had parked the wreck in front of the high school as a visceral reminder. Don't drive drunk. And it seems in this case they weren't they were just being stupid--95 mph on Maroon creek road....stupid.
Last Saturday night my son and I came home around 10:30. As we got close to the house I saw cars parked all along the street. Lots and lots of cars. More than I have ever seen my in hood. I figured someone was having a party. Turns out the someone was the kid in the duplex we share a wall with. It was kinda loud, but not tooo loud in our bedroom (my son's walls were shaking pretty good though). And the party was just winding up--kids were coming in, not leaving and some smart high schoolers were taking a cab to avoid the drunk driving issue (or they weren't old enough to drive).
After a quick chat with the wife, I decided to call in the law. I didn't really want to bang on the door and ask them to keep it down and please not damage my property. Shoot, in this day and age I didn't want to risk getting shot for going up to someone's door (ok I wasn't really worried about that). Then things got all 21st century.
Prior to making the call I asked my son what he thought--he went on his phone and was able to quickly figure out who might be there (for AHS who read this blog he didn't reveal any names), and he indicated that many of the party goers were serious partiers. Ok, so it's not the board game club (yes the school has a board game club) having a parent supervised gathering (son laughing hard in background).
About 2 minutes after I called in the heat the kids started fleeing the scene. Way before the police arrived. I asked my son what he thought happened and he suggested kids coming to the party saw the police heading their way and texted a warning.
Within 5-10 minutes they were all gone (quietly I might add which was a pleasant surprise).
The next day the kids mom is banging on our door. She tears my wife a new one about calling the police on the party. Why didn't we call her first? Why did we call the cops at all. hummmmmm.
Why didn't we call her first---well if she is there and overseeing a party where kids are drinking and doing drugs, she doesn't seem like a great point of contact to correct the situation. If she isn't there (which she wasn't) I am not sure what she would have done.
Why call the cops---well as it turns out, some of the states I have lived in have this thing called social host laws which means that the parents (and other adults) can be held responsible for underage drinking that occurs on their property. Also if you know that underage drinking is going on and do nothing there is a chance that you can be held liable in these states. It turns out that Colorado is not a state with aggressive social host laws, but I really didn't want to do that research at 11 pm. I also didn't want to risk damage in their property flowing into my property.
So yea I called the fuzz. When I was 18 I was the one having the party (mom traveled a lot for work). Now I am the grumpy old guy calling the cops.
PS driving in St. Louis a little buzzed was never ok, but shoot we weren't driving on winding mountain roads in the snow. 5 Aspen High school kids were in this car---they are all ok ----holy shit safety technology has improved---back in the 80s I bet 3 out of 5 are dead. I kinda wished they had parked the wreck in front of the high school as a visceral reminder. Don't drive drunk. And it seems in this case they weren't they were just being stupid--95 mph on Maroon creek road....stupid.
PPS my dog snuck into their party and did some very messy lines---bad dog
Thursday, November 29, 2018
my life in pictures
soooo it's been a while and let's face it no one reads anymore sooooooo here is a picture update (with some short captions to see if folks can still read)
Halloween is very scary
wife did this on oct 31
it made the papers cause we live in a small town--dogs and wife were fine--car not so much so we got a new car
one of these
good news is dogs can get their ya yas out on the trails and are still chasing big game
which brings us to hockey---we had a tourney in vail which brought out the best in Aspen hockey
note the really hot hockey mom below (Aspen has only the hottest hockey moms)
we also had a rare window when we could drive to the bells which resulted in some team pond hockey --Chicago and East coast you got nothing on this
america the beautiful
panic and freak the fuck out (she made it all the way up)
crack master (joshua tree has some amazing climbing )
tunes around the campfire--we never had an experience like this driving from Chicago to STL for t-day
holy shit the West is beautiful
Halloween is very scary
wife did this on oct 31
it made the papers cause we live in a small town--dogs and wife were fine--car not so much so we got a new car
one of these
which is much bigger car than I would ever own in a city but up here with crazy dirt roads the ground clearance and room for dogs and toys in the way back make it a good acquisition
then we got to halloween itself (daughter as eeyore, and son as Bret Kava)
then we got a bunny---bunny is cute and dogs are hungry --we will have to see how this plays out
speaking of big game (and the need to clean up work sites note the bear looking to clean up)
which brings us to hockey---we had a tourney in vail which brought out the best in Aspen hockey
note the really hot hockey mom below (Aspen has only the hottest hockey moms)
Also weirdly the hotel we stayed at shut the bar at 10 pm which required some forethought from this hockey dad
the early arrival of winter also allowed me to go super cheap for the wife's b day---yea they opened the hill on Nov 17th her birthday so that was a pretty sweet gift for all of us
which brings us to thanksgiving---we drove to LA with a stop in Joshua Tree and hoover dam and vegas and other cool places---I will write more about that but for now enjoy some travel shots
infrastructure spend at work
america the beautiful
crack master (joshua tree has some amazing climbing )
tunes around the campfire--we never had an experience like this driving from Chicago to STL for t-day
holy shit the West is beautiful
Monday, October 8, 2018
my dogs didn't do that in chicago (and other fun stuff)
in the past week my dogs have treed two bears.
For those of you who don't know what it means to tree a bear, that is when your dogs chase a bear up a tree (the bear goes up the tree not the dogs).
Its kinda interesting to watch--my dogs go at the bears without barking. They just charge the bears hard and the bears run for their lives and then climb to the top of the largest aspen tree they can find. I wish I had taken video of the big bears swaying at the top of a thin Aspen, but I was a bit too busy calling the dogs off to pull out the phone. I'll see if next time I can get some vid.
My younger dog also took a dump in the middle of highway 82 near independence pass. She was on lead and slowly edged me out into the road until she was on the yellow line and then left a solid poop smack in the middle of the road. We were lucky that all the leaf peeping drivers were in a mellow mood. No honking, just some smiles as I scooped the poop and dragged the dumb dog out of the road. Thank you drivers for your fab temperament.
I also wanted to thank some dog owners for giving me the chance to do the right thing. The other day on smuggler I was able to collect about a dozen poop bags left by other dog owners. Thank you for giving me such an easy mitzvah (good deed in hebrew) opportunity.
We got snow in the high country and ski passes in the drawer. Let it snow let it snow let it snow.
For those of you who don't know what it means to tree a bear, that is when your dogs chase a bear up a tree (the bear goes up the tree not the dogs).
Its kinda interesting to watch--my dogs go at the bears without barking. They just charge the bears hard and the bears run for their lives and then climb to the top of the largest aspen tree they can find. I wish I had taken video of the big bears swaying at the top of a thin Aspen, but I was a bit too busy calling the dogs off to pull out the phone. I'll see if next time I can get some vid.
My younger dog also took a dump in the middle of highway 82 near independence pass. She was on lead and slowly edged me out into the road until she was on the yellow line and then left a solid poop smack in the middle of the road. We were lucky that all the leaf peeping drivers were in a mellow mood. No honking, just some smiles as I scooped the poop and dragged the dumb dog out of the road. Thank you drivers for your fab temperament.
I also wanted to thank some dog owners for giving me the chance to do the right thing. The other day on smuggler I was able to collect about a dozen poop bags left by other dog owners. Thank you for giving me such an easy mitzvah (good deed in hebrew) opportunity.
We got snow in the high country and ski passes in the drawer. Let it snow let it snow let it snow.
Thursday, October 4, 2018
all ya all back to high school debate class
What do Aspen and Washington DC have in common? At first blush, it would seem not a lot. Sadly, the controversy surrounding the Kavanaugh
supreme court nomination and the discussions regarding Superintendent Maloy’s
extension show some distressing similarities.
In both cases there has been a rush to judgement, an unwillingness to
listen to each other, much hyperbole, and demonizing people with opposing
views. The parents opposing Maloy’s
contract extension are not a lynch mob of angry parents spewing vitriol with a
vendetta against Maloy. Likewise, you
can support Kavanaugh’s nomination, and support #metoo.
I think everyone (folks in Aspen, DC and our country) would
benefit from taking a couple of debate classes at Aspen high school. In this most excellent class they are
assigned a topic to debate, and pro or con is determined by a coin flip. You need to be prepared to debate both sides
of the argument. Think about how much
better you understand the issue if you must be prepared to support either
side. How much more empathy would there be in DC if Lindsey Graham had to argue for withdrawing Kavanaugh’s
nomination, and Cory Booker had to argue for his appointment to the Supreme
court. How about if APAC leaders had to
present arguments for extending Maloy’s contract and Willis and Klug had to
make arguments for his immediate removal.
This undoubtedly would increase compassion for people with differing
opinions, improve discourse and result in better decision making.
In an attempt to get a passing grade in high school debate,
I will present pros and cons for extending superintendent Maloy’s contract.
Pros:
1.
He has
done a good job. All schools are
accredited with distinction. The
district is rated 20th in the state and is in the top 15% of
districts in the state.
2.
He knows the players and the district. Onboarding a new hire is costly.
3.
He helped deliver a pay raise to teachers.
4.
He has shown tremendous support for teachers and
staff. When his head of HR was found to
have some issues related to her prior job, he gave her his full support,
believing her present accomplishments more than make up for her past indiscretions.
5.
Chasing out a superintendent who is performing
well might make hiring a great new one very difficult.
Cons:
1.
The
school district is performing worse. The
district has fallen from 3rd in the state to 20th. While the district continues to be accredited
with distinction, it has fallen from the top 5% to 15%. Given
how weak much of the competition is, that is a significant fall.
2.
Maloy lost his job in Indiana for bullying
teachers. He stands accused of the same
behavior in Aspen.
3.
He has shown very poor judgement—
a.
his hiring of Hodges is hard to understand given
her lack of relevant experience. His defense of her when crimes related to her
previous job became know is inexplicable.
b.
Allowing his daughter to apply to work in the
school district showed little empathy or understanding for the perception of
nepotism
c.
Trolling the halls and asking teachers to voice
support for him at the BOE meeting shows a lack of understanding of the coercive
and inappropriate nature of that request
4.
We can do better---Aspen superintendent is a
plum job, surely, we can find someone with a terrific resume, excellent
leadership and a history of good judgement
Things that clearly don’t improve the conversation include
hyperbole, such as calling engaged parents angry or a lynch mob. Nor does insisting on some self-determined
rules about what can and can’t be discussed like ‘everything must be
positive’. A declining school ranking
isn’t positive, and insisting on a positive spin is disingenuous and obscures
the truth.
One of my college roommates is super conservative. He was considered as a possible Supreme court
nominee under the G W Bush administration.
I consider myself a very, very liberal voter. We disagreed about a lot of things, AND we
were good friends. For example, he
believed we should have used tactical nukes in Vietnam; I believe we shouldn’t
have been in Vietnam. During the 88
election he agreed to drink a shot for each state Bush lost, I for Dukakis. I got really, really drunk, and he kept the
demeanor and grace which would make him a good supreme court judge (and let me
out of the bet).
Whether a US supreme court nomination or a local school
district superintendent, asking ourselves to argue the contra position is a
great practice. Not only are you liable
to make your own arguments more compelling, you might pick up some useful ideas
from the ‘other side’. Darwinism of
ideas brings out the best, and that requires conflict. Evolution is painful, but those that don’t
evolve perish. We need my son’s high
school debate coach to help us move our discourse to something more productive
than what we see in either Aspen or DC.
P.S. Donald, if
Kavanaugh goes down I would be pleased to pass along my college roommate’s
name. He would be the first immigrant to
sit on the bench, and to my knowledge, never partied like Kavanaugh.
Monday, October 1, 2018
holy shit
Above find a sampling of the various bear poops within 500 yards of my house. There are at least 3 more in the past 24 hours but really how many pictures of bear poop does anyone need?
These poops bring a few questions to mind:
1. Why don't bears poop in the woods?
2. If this is overflow poop, how many bears are in my hood
3. If a bear poops on the street who cleans it up? the city, county, HOA, the good samaritan neighbor?
4. Why do dogs prefer Elk poop to bear poop?
5. Which are worse Chicago rats or Aspen bears? The rats don't tear down a wall or destroy a car to get a food, BUT .....well have you looked at a rat? And rats stink and bears --not so much.
6. What movies to bears like? Friday night my daughter and her friend were (re)watching Addam Family Values when two yearlings pulled up to the sliding glass door to watch the movie. They only stuck around for 10 minutes. Who walks out on the Addams family?
Side note---sailing sucks. My wife drove the boy and crew to Park City (6 hours each way) paid for two nights of hotel room, gas etc. They got in one 15 minute race (they won but still). And then 38 hours later drove back home. Ugh.
The drive with the daughter and two teammates to soccer in Crusty Butt was most excellent. Kebler pass is beautiful and if you can do that drive in the fall you should. And while Aspen lost it was an excellent game with high quality play, which was great to see.
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
mayhem (and other fun stuff with pictures too)
OMG OMG OMG the internet was down yesterday. Both Comcast and Verizon failed around 6:30 AM and didn't return until about 1PM. No internet, no IP phones, no TV. But really no internet. No blogging, no trading, no texting, no communication.
It's kinda amazing how vital the internet has become. Take it away for a couple of hours and see what happens (namely no work or at least no work from home). But you do see people walking around town without staring at their phones. Ironically the day we had no internet was the first day in weeks we actually had rain, so I was stuck inside unable to do much of anything. Crazy.
Other fun stuff.
A must do is visit Aspen during the fall. Watching the aspen leaves turn, especially when contrasted against the dark green pine is pretty amazing. It was a great two weeks of walking the dogs and enjoying the breathtaking views.
This past weekend was all about charity for the local hockey organization. The crown jewel was the 98 women's gold medal winning hockey team playing the CU women's team. Things I learned watching that game included:
1. playing at altitude is tuff for a bunch of 40 + year old women from the east coast
2. the 98 team gets no respect--this was the first time they had played together since winning the medal
3. women play hard----even in a charity exhibition game. There were broken sticks, penalties, pulled goaltenders and hard checks into the boards---stuff you don't see when the old time NHL guys get together
4. these women appreciated everything we did for them, from drinks and food in the locker room to an expense paid weekend in Aspen
5. Which reminds me of a quote from my daughter 'how come women don't get paid to play team sports?' Good question. I guess the honest answer is fans don't want to pay to watch women play team sports. How big is the discrepancy.? In pro basketball women get paid about 1/100th of what the men get paid, and in hockey about 1/200th. However, in golf the average pro woman gets paid about 1/4 th of what the average man makes. Clearly I need to get my daughter to drop the hockey stick and pick up a tennis racquet or golf club.
Last but not least for those long time friends you might remember my wife and I are approaching our anniversary. Are we heading to New Orleans to listen to some zydeco music? or atleast going out to dinner? Nope. As parents of a certain age our anniversary involves my wife driving our son and team mate to park city for the weekend for a regatta while I am doing a day trip to Crested Butte for my daughter's soccer game. For those of you not on the western slope and wondering about those distances it's about a 6 hour drive each way for the wife, while my Crested Butte trip is ---well it all depends on how fast I drive but 2-3 hours each way (ironically it's also only a 13 mile hike but distances in the mountains are very different than elsewhere.)
Enjoy the fall, and your internet service.
It's kinda amazing how vital the internet has become. Take it away for a couple of hours and see what happens (namely no work or at least no work from home). But you do see people walking around town without staring at their phones. Ironically the day we had no internet was the first day in weeks we actually had rain, so I was stuck inside unable to do much of anything. Crazy.
Other fun stuff.
A must do is visit Aspen during the fall. Watching the aspen leaves turn, especially when contrasted against the dark green pine is pretty amazing. It was a great two weeks of walking the dogs and enjoying the breathtaking views.
This past weekend was all about charity for the local hockey organization. The crown jewel was the 98 women's gold medal winning hockey team playing the CU women's team. Things I learned watching that game included:
1. playing at altitude is tuff for a bunch of 40 + year old women from the east coast
2. the 98 team gets no respect--this was the first time they had played together since winning the medal
3. women play hard----even in a charity exhibition game. There were broken sticks, penalties, pulled goaltenders and hard checks into the boards---stuff you don't see when the old time NHL guys get together
4. these women appreciated everything we did for them, from drinks and food in the locker room to an expense paid weekend in Aspen
5. Which reminds me of a quote from my daughter 'how come women don't get paid to play team sports?' Good question. I guess the honest answer is fans don't want to pay to watch women play team sports. How big is the discrepancy.? In pro basketball women get paid about 1/100th of what the men get paid, and in hockey about 1/200th. However, in golf the average pro woman gets paid about 1/4 th of what the average man makes. Clearly I need to get my daughter to drop the hockey stick and pick up a tennis racquet or golf club.
Last but not least for those long time friends you might remember my wife and I are approaching our anniversary. Are we heading to New Orleans to listen to some zydeco music? or atleast going out to dinner? Nope. As parents of a certain age our anniversary involves my wife driving our son and team mate to park city for the weekend for a regatta while I am doing a day trip to Crested Butte for my daughter's soccer game. For those of you not on the western slope and wondering about those distances it's about a 6 hour drive each way for the wife, while my Crested Butte trip is ---well it all depends on how fast I drive but 2-3 hours each way (ironically it's also only a 13 mile hike but distances in the mountains are very different than elsewhere.)
Enjoy the fall, and your internet service.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
about the Aspen not so superintendent
Things I learned about John Maloy Aspen School District Superintendent:
1. He lost his last job in Indiana because teachers rebelled against what they said was an intolerable work environment, where teachers who brought up problems, exposed issues or proposed differing solutions to those Maloy wanted were punished or fired.
2. Aspen teachers are complaining of a similar work environment (anonymously) ---Big difference Aspen school teachers are not protected by a union while the Monroe county teachers were.
3. Teacher turnover has exploded rising by over 75%. (From 9% in 2010 to 16% last year) ----While teachers are complaining anonymously they are speaking loudly with their feet.
4. He hired his daughter to be the school psychologist. It seems this is a very senior role at the ASD. This is Megan's first job EVER. When Megan makes a mistake who wants to tell her dad?
5. Another Maloy hire who continues to have his full throated support is Elizabeth Hodges. She is head of Aspen School Districts HR department. Prior to this she practiced family law in Missouri. Her last job ended in her disbarment and pleading guilty to a misdemeanor related to forging documents. She has no large scale HR experience, has no HR successes under her belt, and is a convicted criminal. It doesn't seem that she bothered to inform Maloy as to these outstanding issues, because according to her these are little things like a DUI. I will leave it up to you as to whether or not you think a DUI is a small thing, but I will suggest that when it is a work related crime you are guilty of your subsequent employer might want to know.
6. When Maloy took over Aspen Elementary was ranked 61st in the state--it is now ranked 344th.
7. Aspen High School was ranked 3rd in the state--it is now ranked 20th. That is like Harvard swapping places with Emory in US News and World Reports rankings. You can argue with the ranking methodology all you want, but I can guarantee you that if that happened to Harvard the board of trustees would be hiring a new President of the School. No question. Extending their contract? No way.
Which leaves me asking the school board "what the heck?" Why would you consider extending Maloy's contract? Maloy was hired under a cloud and that cloud has clearly followed him. Some of his hires are inexplicable and his management of those hires questionable. Add in the districts plummeting performance, and the only question should be how quick can we find a replacement.
1. He lost his last job in Indiana because teachers rebelled against what they said was an intolerable work environment, where teachers who brought up problems, exposed issues or proposed differing solutions to those Maloy wanted were punished or fired.
2. Aspen teachers are complaining of a similar work environment (anonymously) ---Big difference Aspen school teachers are not protected by a union while the Monroe county teachers were.
3. Teacher turnover has exploded rising by over 75%. (From 9% in 2010 to 16% last year) ----While teachers are complaining anonymously they are speaking loudly with their feet.
4. He hired his daughter to be the school psychologist. It seems this is a very senior role at the ASD. This is Megan's first job EVER. When Megan makes a mistake who wants to tell her dad?
5. Another Maloy hire who continues to have his full throated support is Elizabeth Hodges. She is head of Aspen School Districts HR department. Prior to this she practiced family law in Missouri. Her last job ended in her disbarment and pleading guilty to a misdemeanor related to forging documents. She has no large scale HR experience, has no HR successes under her belt, and is a convicted criminal. It doesn't seem that she bothered to inform Maloy as to these outstanding issues, because according to her these are little things like a DUI. I will leave it up to you as to whether or not you think a DUI is a small thing, but I will suggest that when it is a work related crime you are guilty of your subsequent employer might want to know.
6. When Maloy took over Aspen Elementary was ranked 61st in the state--it is now ranked 344th.
7. Aspen High School was ranked 3rd in the state--it is now ranked 20th. That is like Harvard swapping places with Emory in US News and World Reports rankings. You can argue with the ranking methodology all you want, but I can guarantee you that if that happened to Harvard the board of trustees would be hiring a new President of the School. No question. Extending their contract? No way.
Which leaves me asking the school board "what the heck?" Why would you consider extending Maloy's contract? Maloy was hired under a cloud and that cloud has clearly followed him. Some of his hires are inexplicable and his management of those hires questionable. Add in the districts plummeting performance, and the only question should be how quick can we find a replacement.
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