It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas........on Tuesday I had two trips to the school between 3:40-5pm and those trips took about 2 hours----for those of you who aren't local that is a 4 mile drive one way---multiply that by 4 trips and you are looking at an average speed of 8 miles an hours..........
BUT that isn't what this post is about.
It's about one of my daughter's best friend's birthday party. The birthday girls' besties were going to have a surprise party for their friend, which required getting the mom involved with the surprise part--after that the plan was hang out at limelight in Snowmass and swim and skate. Simple, easy and all pretty much designed and managed by the girls. Yea!!!!
But then trouble began. The mother took control of the guest list and added about 15 kids to the mix. Ohhhh kay (well not really), but that ain't what this post is about either.
It's about the meat in the middle---in this case the party evolved into a surprise (with pizza at the girls house), going to an evangelical church event, and then going to the limelight to skate and play.
There it is-----the meat in the middle was hanging out in a yurt talking about your personal relationship with Jesus. Some push back I got as I raised my concern was this is just like a Bat Mitzvah, but it isn't. No one asks individuals to speak about how Torah affects their daily life at a Bat Mitzvah. No one tries to convert you to Judaism, or tells you the only way to heaven, peace and salvation is through Torah. And for sure if you try to hide in the bathroom they don't send someone to get you and march you back to the service (yea that did happen to my daughter). Can't a birthday party just be a birthday party and leave the evangelical religion for another day? Don't force a friend to choose between going to a birthday party and taking Jesus as your savior?
I honestly don't think the mother really thought it was very offensive or problematic to have a fun youth focused christian event in the midst of her daughter's birthday party----which is the risk if you live too much in your buble. If you primarily hang out with other evangelical christians it's hard to get how a Jewish kid (or agnostic or Lutheran) might feel about hanging out in a yurt talking about how Jesus impacts their daily life. Also if you are gay, or have gay family members and this church's view of LGBTQ is that it is a sin and you will burn in hell.........well maybe that just isn't such a friendly birthday party. I kinda want to make sure evangelical christians take a good hard look at the crusades and maybe be open to considering that people don't like to be told who to pray to and how to pray.
Up next---more dangers about living in a bubble.
Friday, December 20, 2019
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
what's the T?
for all you old folks out there:
"what's the T" is hip kid for what's the drama?
Asking that question typically inspires interesting comments from my kids. This weekend that inspired the following responses:
Son (high school 10th grade)---"an upper classman got nailed for having 3 joints at school"
Daughter (8th grade middle school) "nada today"
Daughter hockey goalie who goes to summit middle school " 3 girls in my school are pregnant"
Ding Ding Ding we have a winner for the T of the week, month, and year to date (with the Lipsey drug and car flipping incidents all last year) and its 3 8th grade girls carrying their babies to term at summit middle school.
Moving on-------Girls can do anything boys can do
I spent this weekend with 2-5 teen hockey girls in steamboat this past weekend. My daughter looks like she was beaten with a bat---black and blue marks on both arms and above both knees. She drew a couple of penalties and they didn't even call her getting hit in the head with a stick or the cross check-boarding that sent her flying head first toward the corner boards. Whoever said girls hockey didn't have contact didn't play with these girls.
On the way home from steamboat there is about 70 miles without much in the way of services---but I did have well hydrated hockey girls in my car---I know boys can pee in empty gatorade bottles---well the girls didn't spill a drop (I am told) filling up a large starbucks cup. Way to go girls. Most impressive given how much laughter there was not to spill--I honestly can't imagine the skills that takes.
Finally this bumper sticker was on a 4runner in Steamboat
The car was being driven by a 20 something woman who looked super crunchy. Guess you can't judge a book by its cover. And I guess her view of Freedom is her ability to be the ultimate freerider. What is a better expression of freedom than being able to pollute the heck out of the planet and then shoot lots of stuff with an AR15.
A little pond hockey pic to remind everyone we aren't in Chicago anymore
"what's the T" is hip kid for what's the drama?
Asking that question typically inspires interesting comments from my kids. This weekend that inspired the following responses:
Son (high school 10th grade)---"an upper classman got nailed for having 3 joints at school"
Daughter (8th grade middle school) "nada today"
Daughter hockey goalie who goes to summit middle school " 3 girls in my school are pregnant"
Ding Ding Ding we have a winner for the T of the week, month, and year to date (with the Lipsey drug and car flipping incidents all last year) and its 3 8th grade girls carrying their babies to term at summit middle school.
Moving on-------Girls can do anything boys can do
I spent this weekend with 2-5 teen hockey girls in steamboat this past weekend. My daughter looks like she was beaten with a bat---black and blue marks on both arms and above both knees. She drew a couple of penalties and they didn't even call her getting hit in the head with a stick or the cross check-boarding that sent her flying head first toward the corner boards. Whoever said girls hockey didn't have contact didn't play with these girls.
On the way home from steamboat there is about 70 miles without much in the way of services---but I did have well hydrated hockey girls in my car---I know boys can pee in empty gatorade bottles---well the girls didn't spill a drop (I am told) filling up a large starbucks cup. Way to go girls. Most impressive given how much laughter there was not to spill--I honestly can't imagine the skills that takes.
Finally this bumper sticker was on a 4runner in Steamboat
The car was being driven by a 20 something woman who looked super crunchy. Guess you can't judge a book by its cover. And I guess her view of Freedom is her ability to be the ultimate freerider. What is a better expression of freedom than being able to pollute the heck out of the planet and then shoot lots of stuff with an AR15.
A little pond hockey pic to remind everyone we aren't in Chicago anymore
Thursday, November 7, 2019
the results are in.......
The results of the BOE campaign are in and my much better half is not going to be spending 22 Mondays at public BOE meetings plus goodness knows how much other time as a BOE member. It’s a win for me and the kids and dogs, but I believe a bit of a loss for Aspen.With voter turnout of 36% the results were as followsJonathan Nickell 1,540 26%Katy Frisch 1,505 26%Jim Pomeroy 921 16%John Galambos 829 14%Bettina Slusar 697 12%Patsy Kurkulis 401 6.8%I want to congratulate Katy and Jonathan. It’s great to have two new BOE members who both have business chops and MBAs from Booth and HBS respectively. Hopefully they will feel comfortable really digging into the budget and see if they can find some efficiencies they can reallocate towards teacher salaries. Also given their experience managing lots of people, I expect to see them hire an excellent superintendent. I wish you two and the rest of the board much success.Some interesting things happened in this election. The local democratic party didn’t endorse anyone (the GOP endorsed Nickell). Likewise the Aspen teachers union (well they aren’t a union it’s the Aspen Education Association) didn’t endorse. In Denver, all the candidates endorsed by the teachers union won, changing the complexion of the board significantly. The Aspen Daily News also didn’t endorse anyone. I find it a little weird for them to all sit this out. Also Mr. Nickell as the big winner picked up just under 11% of the total registered voters. And this is with mail in ballots---I fear a bit for our democracy with such low voter turnout.I also suspect that prop CC which would have overturned parts of TABOR motivated some more traditional GOP voters to get out and vote. In Aspen CC was approved by 66% of the vote, while in the last presidential election Clinton won 70% of the vote. Looks like the Dems didn’t do as good a Get out the vote operation as they did in 2016. Prop CC failed state wide which might serve as a useful reminder to Dems that people hate taxes (although they want better funded schools and infrastructure spend). It all feels a bit like a high school election where the most popular kids win especially, if they promise shorter school days, longer recess and more desserts in the cafeteria.I am excited to watch Nickell, Frisch and the rest of the school board have a positive impact on the ASD. I am also really proud of my wife’s willingness to ask questions that should be asked (like 3rd grade reading performance, out of whack expenses, teacher morale and turnover). Clearly, asking those questions directly created some consternation and personal blowback on her, but she has a thick enough skin to ignore that silliness. And by shining sunlight on those questions they will become much harder to ignore which will improve ASD.
Now I gotta go pick up some yard signs.
And I am driving to steamboat with 3 13 year olds for some puck--the next post should write itself if I survive.
Sunday, November 3, 2019
don't get stuck in the wrong job
that was a tagline a friend of mine used in a great ad campaign for a recruiting company.
One of my favorite ads had a picture of a DEA badge with Keith Richards name on it and
"don't get stuck in the wrong job".
Priceless right?
Clearly that is excellent advice. Our President is clearly in the wrong job---being president takes skills like honesty, curiosity, intellect, people skills and ---well a host of other skills in which he is lacking. However, he did have the right job---he was perfect as the head honcho in the reality TV world of 'The Apprentice' and any stupid stuff he did only hurt his own brand and that of his own company. I am all for an Apprentice reboot if it gets him out of the White House ASAP.
Our ex-superintendent looks like he also was in the wrong job. Being a leader requires leadership which in my book is demonstrated by good people skills and good salesmanship, and aided by a willingness to admit mistakes, own them and learn from them. A quick look at many of his hires (criminals with no experience), his daughter as a manager, a CFO who left a huge mess, and his unwillingness to own challenges (falling school rankings, teacher turnover, etc) are indicative of someone who doesn't have the skills for a high level leadership position.
Someone else who didn't have the right skills for his 'job' was the French student we housed for the past two months. Before you blame this on his language skills, his English was good, and to be fair he was willing to pitch in around the house doing dishes and walking the dogs. However, his interpersonal skills were non-existent. What do non-existent interpersonal skills look like?---his response to what he would like for dinner was ' I don't know'. I gave him a day to come up with one meal he would like to eat while he was here, and again 'I don't know'. He would go days saying only ' good morning' 'good night' and 'cool (to the question how was school). When I dug in trying to get him to speak, conversations went like this:
me "what did you do last summer'
French "scuba dived'
me "where'
French "indonesia'
me 'with who'
French ' cousins"
me 'how was it'
French 'cool'
You get my point---he just couldn't-wouldn't engage. EVER. He did however creep out the swim team by hanging out in the hot tub for hours watching them practice..... a number of times......yea he lived with us for 2 months.
The right job for him is as a witness in a trial offering up the bare minimum under cross examination. At that he was a natural. But coming to America for 2 months with no program to support him and another student from his home school wanting zero to do with him was the wrong 'job'. And it points the finger at the real problem--his mother who is in charge of the Chomonix sisters city program and sent someone who was completely ill suited for the situation he was being put in. I feel someone should take a hard look at whether that role suits her. I sure wouldn't trust her to make good decisions for other children based on this experience. Over two months she reached out to us twice--and one of those times was to let us know he had made it home.
Someone else who really has the right job was the person who sent anonymous hate mail to my wife regarding her running for school board. They used a weird salutation (Ms. Bettina) to begin the letter and a spooky closing (old Aspen speaks, there are many...). Parts of the letter were illegible forcing us to work to try to decipher meaning, managed to seem threatening without actually providing a specific threat (we are doing all we can to keep you off the school board), gaslight by accusing someone else of meanness in an anonymous letter, and best of all had a weird post mark (Boston, MA). Talk about ticking all the boxes for anonymous hate mail. To you 'old aspen' I must tip my cap---anonymous hate mail suits your perfectly.
Speaking of the school board election and jobs, I believe I have the right one in blogging. Seems my post about hoping my wife wouldn't win became something of a sensation with some of my wife's opponents who passed it around faster than a 3 year old fruitcake at Christmas time. I believe a good blog should be witty, timely and provocative. It should force you to think and be a bit uncomfortable. Seems I nailed it. It would be super cool if some of the recent crop of readers returned the blog. I bet I will make you laugh, cringe, and maybe even think outside the box. Quite possibly in each post if I do my job right (I often don't, I will admit). An example of this work can be found on the June 21 and 26 posts regarding race. If those don't make you think have a doctor check your brain functions. If you want to know when a new post goes live, scroll back up to the top of the blog and put your email address in the box and hit submit. I won't know who you are but you will know when I post, and you can feel free to point out the errors in my thinking.
Election is two days away---yea. And picking up the mail has never been more exciting.
One of my favorite ads had a picture of a DEA badge with Keith Richards name on it and
"don't get stuck in the wrong job".
Priceless right?
Clearly that is excellent advice. Our President is clearly in the wrong job---being president takes skills like honesty, curiosity, intellect, people skills and ---well a host of other skills in which he is lacking. However, he did have the right job---he was perfect as the head honcho in the reality TV world of 'The Apprentice' and any stupid stuff he did only hurt his own brand and that of his own company. I am all for an Apprentice reboot if it gets him out of the White House ASAP.
Our ex-superintendent looks like he also was in the wrong job. Being a leader requires leadership which in my book is demonstrated by good people skills and good salesmanship, and aided by a willingness to admit mistakes, own them and learn from them. A quick look at many of his hires (criminals with no experience), his daughter as a manager, a CFO who left a huge mess, and his unwillingness to own challenges (falling school rankings, teacher turnover, etc) are indicative of someone who doesn't have the skills for a high level leadership position.
Someone else who didn't have the right skills for his 'job' was the French student we housed for the past two months. Before you blame this on his language skills, his English was good, and to be fair he was willing to pitch in around the house doing dishes and walking the dogs. However, his interpersonal skills were non-existent. What do non-existent interpersonal skills look like?---his response to what he would like for dinner was ' I don't know'. I gave him a day to come up with one meal he would like to eat while he was here, and again 'I don't know'. He would go days saying only ' good morning' 'good night' and 'cool (to the question how was school). When I dug in trying to get him to speak, conversations went like this:
me "what did you do last summer'
French "scuba dived'
me "where'
French "indonesia'
me 'with who'
French ' cousins"
me 'how was it'
French 'cool'
You get my point---he just couldn't-wouldn't engage. EVER. He did however creep out the swim team by hanging out in the hot tub for hours watching them practice..... a number of times......yea he lived with us for 2 months.
The right job for him is as a witness in a trial offering up the bare minimum under cross examination. At that he was a natural. But coming to America for 2 months with no program to support him and another student from his home school wanting zero to do with him was the wrong 'job'. And it points the finger at the real problem--his mother who is in charge of the Chomonix sisters city program and sent someone who was completely ill suited for the situation he was being put in. I feel someone should take a hard look at whether that role suits her. I sure wouldn't trust her to make good decisions for other children based on this experience. Over two months she reached out to us twice--and one of those times was to let us know he had made it home.
Someone else who really has the right job was the person who sent anonymous hate mail to my wife regarding her running for school board. They used a weird salutation (Ms. Bettina) to begin the letter and a spooky closing (old Aspen speaks, there are many...). Parts of the letter were illegible forcing us to work to try to decipher meaning, managed to seem threatening without actually providing a specific threat (we are doing all we can to keep you off the school board), gaslight by accusing someone else of meanness in an anonymous letter, and best of all had a weird post mark (Boston, MA). Talk about ticking all the boxes for anonymous hate mail. To you 'old aspen' I must tip my cap---anonymous hate mail suits your perfectly.
Speaking of the school board election and jobs, I believe I have the right one in blogging. Seems my post about hoping my wife wouldn't win became something of a sensation with some of my wife's opponents who passed it around faster than a 3 year old fruitcake at Christmas time. I believe a good blog should be witty, timely and provocative. It should force you to think and be a bit uncomfortable. Seems I nailed it. It would be super cool if some of the recent crop of readers returned the blog. I bet I will make you laugh, cringe, and maybe even think outside the box. Quite possibly in each post if I do my job right (I often don't, I will admit). An example of this work can be found on the June 21 and 26 posts regarding race. If those don't make you think have a doctor check your brain functions. If you want to know when a new post goes live, scroll back up to the top of the blog and put your email address in the box and hit submit. I won't know who you are but you will know when I post, and you can feel free to point out the errors in my thinking.
Election is two days away---yea. And picking up the mail has never been more exciting.
Tuesday, October 29, 2019
Whatssssssss up in Aspen
Snow--and cold. For those of you living in other areas of the world you probably don't find yourself worrying about frostbite while your kids trick-or-treat. This year in Aspen we are looking at sub zero weather resulting in some last minute costume re-thinks.
Also Indy pass is closed for the season---I got the dogs out there yesterday for some first tracks. The pups always like fresh terrority, and yesterday was good fun--today I might give it a go again but my thin blood might not be ready for the snow and the cold.
Hockey has begun with a weekend in Denver---and 'our' first 6 AM puck drop. I say 'our' because sadly my 13 year old daughter can't drive to the games so I also get the 4:45 AM wake up. This has to be character building right?
I did listen to an interesting book on the commute to Denver---It's called Limitless Mind. While I take much of what the author has to say with a grain of salt, I found some good stuff in it. One thing I really liked is the brain science behind how much more you learn from mistakes, and struggling with problems.
Which brings me back to the school board and all the weirdness surrounding it. The past superintendent, like something out of a zombie movie decided to leap out of retirement with a scary letter to both papers attacking my wife. He accused her of hysterically trying to sever his head from body in a BOE meeting with an angry shaking finger.
Sidebar---I know some of the folks who are against my wife's BOE candidacy have tried to use my blog to damage her (my last post was widely circulated as "OMG even her husband doesn't want her to win".)
To that I say " please get a sense of humor."
But back to Maloy strangeness. Bettina's actual comment was that the fish rots from the head down. Yes, in that analogy Maloy is the head, and removing it is the solution to stop the rot, but to whinge on about civil discourse while calling a woman hysterical, and misquoting her seems a wee bit unprofessional. Maloy also seems totally tone deaf or out of it when he believes his trump card is that my wife didn't reach out to him. While Maloy did reach out to many other APAC members, he seemed to find a straight shooting female business executive just too much. That is hardly my wife's fault. He also complains that his daughter's only crime was being related to him---of course that isn't a crime, but it is the definition of nepotism when you are the head honcho. I (and any governance expert) would suggest that a good leader who wanted the best for their kids would encourage them to take their first job at any company other than the one they run. Which is the point--Maloy was a horrible leader--he lead by fear, intimidation, and retaliation (see either the results of the climate study or his recent attack on Bettina).
To recap, he hired a disbarred criminal with no relevant HR experience to be his head of HR and gave her an unsecured loan (she has since declared bankruptcy), oversaw wonky finances included a line item labeled miscellaneous which makes up 8% of the total budget, high teacher and principal turnover, and declining test results and couldn't countenance a conversation where he took any ownership or responsibility. He demands positive spin to boot. Per Limitless Mind good leaders can admit mistakes and learn from them. Ditto students need to be encourage to take risks, push themselves and make mistakes---that is where deep learning comes from. You should expect to see that trait from the superintendent--instead we had a thin skinned leader who wouldn't hear anything but positive reports.
I have no clue how this will be spun to attack myself or Bettina, but I am sure some Aspenites will find some surprising and creative venues. Might I suggest something related to my not so good looks and lack of sleep as a humours rejoinder. Either way have at it, I don't mind and love a good laugh.
Tune the skis and strengthen the legs---it's about time to make some turns and move on from the school board campaign.
Also Indy pass is closed for the season---I got the dogs out there yesterday for some first tracks. The pups always like fresh terrority, and yesterday was good fun--today I might give it a go again but my thin blood might not be ready for the snow and the cold.
Hockey has begun with a weekend in Denver---and 'our' first 6 AM puck drop. I say 'our' because sadly my 13 year old daughter can't drive to the games so I also get the 4:45 AM wake up. This has to be character building right?
I did listen to an interesting book on the commute to Denver---It's called Limitless Mind. While I take much of what the author has to say with a grain of salt, I found some good stuff in it. One thing I really liked is the brain science behind how much more you learn from mistakes, and struggling with problems.
Which brings me back to the school board and all the weirdness surrounding it. The past superintendent, like something out of a zombie movie decided to leap out of retirement with a scary letter to both papers attacking my wife. He accused her of hysterically trying to sever his head from body in a BOE meeting with an angry shaking finger.
Sidebar---I know some of the folks who are against my wife's BOE candidacy have tried to use my blog to damage her (my last post was widely circulated as "OMG even her husband doesn't want her to win".)
To that I say " please get a sense of humor."
But back to Maloy strangeness. Bettina's actual comment was that the fish rots from the head down. Yes, in that analogy Maloy is the head, and removing it is the solution to stop the rot, but to whinge on about civil discourse while calling a woman hysterical, and misquoting her seems a wee bit unprofessional. Maloy also seems totally tone deaf or out of it when he believes his trump card is that my wife didn't reach out to him. While Maloy did reach out to many other APAC members, he seemed to find a straight shooting female business executive just too much. That is hardly my wife's fault. He also complains that his daughter's only crime was being related to him---of course that isn't a crime, but it is the definition of nepotism when you are the head honcho. I (and any governance expert) would suggest that a good leader who wanted the best for their kids would encourage them to take their first job at any company other than the one they run. Which is the point--Maloy was a horrible leader--he lead by fear, intimidation, and retaliation (see either the results of the climate study or his recent attack on Bettina).
To recap, he hired a disbarred criminal with no relevant HR experience to be his head of HR and gave her an unsecured loan (she has since declared bankruptcy), oversaw wonky finances included a line item labeled miscellaneous which makes up 8% of the total budget, high teacher and principal turnover, and declining test results and couldn't countenance a conversation where he took any ownership or responsibility. He demands positive spin to boot. Per Limitless Mind good leaders can admit mistakes and learn from them. Ditto students need to be encourage to take risks, push themselves and make mistakes---that is where deep learning comes from. You should expect to see that trait from the superintendent--instead we had a thin skinned leader who wouldn't hear anything but positive reports.
I have no clue how this will be spun to attack myself or Bettina, but I am sure some Aspenites will find some surprising and creative venues. Might I suggest something related to my not so good looks and lack of sleep as a humours rejoinder. Either way have at it, I don't mind and love a good laugh.
Tune the skis and strengthen the legs---it's about time to make some turns and move on from the school board campaign.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
ohhh no running for school board
I failed in my attempts to get the wife to never ever volunteer again. Since the last post she actually got two jobs and she is running for school board. OMG---the school board thing might exemplify all that is wrong in a small town like Aspen---basically opinions are like assholes --everyone has one, which creates paralysis because it seems everyone must be heard before any decision can even be considered.
Before getting to paralysis by public input, let me share some of the fun in running for school board.
I am not sure which is harder--running for President or running for school board. Running for President involves raising a lot of money, but people are willing to give money to presidential candidates because the President can really impact your financial condition. School board not so much. While the President doesn't get paid much, it does come with free housing, transportation, and an opportunity to push the limits on the emoluments clause. School board offers nothing in terms of compensation.
The President of the United States gets tons of executive time to nap and tweet about Fox and friends, and free flights to golf courses. School board members have 22 public meetings a year running 4+ hours plus all the real work of the job. Figure it's about 20% of a full time job.
This week alone there are 3 debates for school board----I doubt Trump will do more than that in his entire 2020 run. School board candidates also have multiple papers demanding responses to multiple questions. Have you ever opened up a paper and seen responses from Presidential candidates to questions posed by news papers?
There are some similarities as well, both candidates for President and school board must complete financial disclosure forms, create independent entities to finance their campaign, disclose donations and campaign related expenses. Running for school board and your friend makes a cheese platter for you, your better disclose that in-kind donation. Running for President and you pay off porn stars to keep silent about an affair, no need to disclose. Running for school board and you ask the school for confirmation about data about students college success (college graduation rates) that they mentioned in a school board meeting and get stonewalled. Ask for other data and be told it must be shared with all candidates. Try to speak to teachers or admin about their concerns and be told only if all candidates running for school board can be present. Run for President and you won't face those issues.
Basically you have got to be crazy to run for school board.
Which brings me to my wife--she has huge business chops. She knows when to listen and when to act. There is way to much listening in this town and way too little action. There seems to be a fear of upsetting people, and people in this town are capable of epic grudges. A supporter said she wouldn't put up a sign because she was worried some clients wouldn't use her catering services if she supports my wife.
There is also a ton of lip service to being positive--well there is no positive spin that should be put on hiring a disbarred felon with no HR experience to be the schools head of HR and then giving her an unsecured loan for 30k. That situation along with declining school performance and skyrocketing employee turnover should cost the superintendent's job--it did but only after way too much strum u drag.
My wife has a sales and operations background. What she excels at is asking the right questions. Why isn't the school board allowed to respond at school board meetings. Imagine the parent that comes to complain about John's teacher being asked 'did you speak to the teacher? What did they suggest? Did you speak to the principal? What did they suggest? Did you speak to their counselor? What did they suggest? Why do you think all of their suggestions are wrong? Do you think that we should reset the schools strategic plan or hold the superintendent's feet to the fire over John's situation?' Maybe if the school board spent less time listening to John's parents they could spend more time asking the CFO how come one of the best funded schools in the state pays their teachers so little. Or asking the head of HR what creative things they are doing to lower benefit costs (Roaring fork collective bargaining agreement anyone?).
To put a fine point on it, we got one guy running whose message is ' I am a long term local and blue collar so vote for me' and another who says I am positive and filled with gratitude and even though I haven't been to a school board meeting ever I have gleaned excellent executive management experience running my firm with a handful of employees, while another toutes her financial expertise while sitting on a school finance oversight board that didn't meet for 10 years. And then there is my wife who managed global client relationships for the largest disaster recovery firm during 9/11, who ran a businesses that raised prices 500% and increase customer satisfaction at the same time and went toe to toe with Jamie Dimon over software costs and won. Please please don't vote for her. I am just too selfish to want to share that much of her with you Aspenites.
Before getting to paralysis by public input, let me share some of the fun in running for school board.
I am not sure which is harder--running for President or running for school board. Running for President involves raising a lot of money, but people are willing to give money to presidential candidates because the President can really impact your financial condition. School board not so much. While the President doesn't get paid much, it does come with free housing, transportation, and an opportunity to push the limits on the emoluments clause. School board offers nothing in terms of compensation.
The President of the United States gets tons of executive time to nap and tweet about Fox and friends, and free flights to golf courses. School board members have 22 public meetings a year running 4+ hours plus all the real work of the job. Figure it's about 20% of a full time job.
This week alone there are 3 debates for school board----I doubt Trump will do more than that in his entire 2020 run. School board candidates also have multiple papers demanding responses to multiple questions. Have you ever opened up a paper and seen responses from Presidential candidates to questions posed by news papers?
There are some similarities as well, both candidates for President and school board must complete financial disclosure forms, create independent entities to finance their campaign, disclose donations and campaign related expenses. Running for school board and your friend makes a cheese platter for you, your better disclose that in-kind donation. Running for President and you pay off porn stars to keep silent about an affair, no need to disclose. Running for school board and you ask the school for confirmation about data about students college success (college graduation rates) that they mentioned in a school board meeting and get stonewalled. Ask for other data and be told it must be shared with all candidates. Try to speak to teachers or admin about their concerns and be told only if all candidates running for school board can be present. Run for President and you won't face those issues.
Basically you have got to be crazy to run for school board.
Which brings me to my wife--she has huge business chops. She knows when to listen and when to act. There is way to much listening in this town and way too little action. There seems to be a fear of upsetting people, and people in this town are capable of epic grudges. A supporter said she wouldn't put up a sign because she was worried some clients wouldn't use her catering services if she supports my wife.
There is also a ton of lip service to being positive--well there is no positive spin that should be put on hiring a disbarred felon with no HR experience to be the schools head of HR and then giving her an unsecured loan for 30k. That situation along with declining school performance and skyrocketing employee turnover should cost the superintendent's job--it did but only after way too much strum u drag.
My wife has a sales and operations background. What she excels at is asking the right questions. Why isn't the school board allowed to respond at school board meetings. Imagine the parent that comes to complain about John's teacher being asked 'did you speak to the teacher? What did they suggest? Did you speak to the principal? What did they suggest? Did you speak to their counselor? What did they suggest? Why do you think all of their suggestions are wrong? Do you think that we should reset the schools strategic plan or hold the superintendent's feet to the fire over John's situation?' Maybe if the school board spent less time listening to John's parents they could spend more time asking the CFO how come one of the best funded schools in the state pays their teachers so little. Or asking the head of HR what creative things they are doing to lower benefit costs (Roaring fork collective bargaining agreement anyone?).
To put a fine point on it, we got one guy running whose message is ' I am a long term local and blue collar so vote for me' and another who says I am positive and filled with gratitude and even though I haven't been to a school board meeting ever I have gleaned excellent executive management experience running my firm with a handful of employees, while another toutes her financial expertise while sitting on a school finance oversight board that didn't meet for 10 years. And then there is my wife who managed global client relationships for the largest disaster recovery firm during 9/11, who ran a businesses that raised prices 500% and increase customer satisfaction at the same time and went toe to toe with Jamie Dimon over software costs and won. Please please don't vote for her. I am just too selfish to want to share that much of her with you Aspenites.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
stop her before she volunteers again
First off, thank God for women (and men) who volunteer. Without them the world would stop spinning (or we would be camping out at away games, cancel outdoor ed, EX ed, pretty much all ed, be eating TV dinners, and wearing the same clothes from the 70s).
To my lovely wife and all of your like minded friends thanks for doing everything you do.
But why oh why did you say "yes" we will take a French kid for 2 months. This isn't an exchange--no one in my family is going to Chamonix. He is not part of an official exchange program (although his mom runs the French side of the Sisters City Chamonix exchange program).
So we have this French kid staying in our house for 2 months. He is a nice enough kid I guess. He walks the dogs and does dishes when asked. He doesn't ask for anything or seem to expect anything. Actually he pretty much does nothing from what I can tell.
I can usually get anyone to talk. Not this kid. He says it isn't a language problem, so I guess it's his personality but check this out.
At dinner last night I asked him if he wanted seconds. He said "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ....................... I don't know".
In an effort to get him to talk about something I gave all the kids homework. I asked them each to pick a meal they would like to have for dinner---daughter immediately said pesto and garlic bread, son said schintel, and French kid after a day of thought came up with ' uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I don't know.'
I asked him how school in France differed from school in Aspen he said 'uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh uhhhhhhhhhhhh uhhhhhhhhhhh I don't know' I followed that up with come on give me something and he said 'uhhhhhhhhh school in Chamonix has fewer windows'.
yup so pretty much he sits in his room or sits in a corner and says nothing. There is another French girl here from Chamonix here right now and when asked if they would like to join us for dinner she said no way. When we asked the family he stayed with before when he came two years ago as part of the sister city program if they would like to hang with there old exchange student they also took a pass.
My wife is exasperated with him. My son is pissed because kids at school think he isn't being 'nice' to the French kid--of course none of them want to hang out with the French kid either cause --well aside from breathing he doesn't do much else.
Bottom line---wife please don't volunteer anymore.
To my lovely wife and all of your like minded friends thanks for doing everything you do.
But why oh why did you say "yes" we will take a French kid for 2 months. This isn't an exchange--no one in my family is going to Chamonix. He is not part of an official exchange program (although his mom runs the French side of the Sisters City Chamonix exchange program).
So we have this French kid staying in our house for 2 months. He is a nice enough kid I guess. He walks the dogs and does dishes when asked. He doesn't ask for anything or seem to expect anything. Actually he pretty much does nothing from what I can tell.
I can usually get anyone to talk. Not this kid. He says it isn't a language problem, so I guess it's his personality but check this out.
At dinner last night I asked him if he wanted seconds. He said "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, ....................... I don't know".
In an effort to get him to talk about something I gave all the kids homework. I asked them each to pick a meal they would like to have for dinner---daughter immediately said pesto and garlic bread, son said schintel, and French kid after a day of thought came up with ' uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I don't know.'
I asked him how school in France differed from school in Aspen he said 'uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh uhhhhhhhhhhhh uhhhhhhhhhhh I don't know' I followed that up with come on give me something and he said 'uhhhhhhhhh school in Chamonix has fewer windows'.
yup so pretty much he sits in his room or sits in a corner and says nothing. There is another French girl here from Chamonix here right now and when asked if they would like to join us for dinner she said no way. When we asked the family he stayed with before when he came two years ago as part of the sister city program if they would like to hang with there old exchange student they also took a pass.
My wife is exasperated with him. My son is pissed because kids at school think he isn't being 'nice' to the French kid--of course none of them want to hang out with the French kid either cause --well aside from breathing he doesn't do much else.
Bottom line---wife please don't volunteer anymore.
Monday, September 9, 2019
things you can learn about people while driving to denver
I admit the title doesn't roll off the tongue, but it's pretty amazing the different types of behavior you can run into doing the Aspen-Denver shuffle.
During the summer I drove to Denver a lot. Honestly, I drive to Denver way too much--doctor apts, hockey, sailing, flights etc----and during the summer when the pass is open I take full advantage of the view and the short cut to make the trip more enjoyable. When driving the pass I almost always find myself driving behind another car. Some drivers pull to the side and let me pass. Conversely, I have had a driver swerve towards the middle of the road to try to keep me from passing. I personally love being passed. Let someone else attract the attention of the police. Still it is an interesting case study in behavior every time I drive the pass.
But that ain't fucking nothing. On a recent trip to Denver this summer with my son in Cape Cod and my wife and daughter in the car with me my phone rang as I approached Breck. I didn't recognize the number but decided to take a chance and answer the phone knowing I was risking a silly marketing call conversation. Glad I answered the phone because it was someone calling to let me know they had found my dog swimming near stillwater. Seems the wife didn't close the door securely and the dogs got bored and decided to go for a swim (please do not point the door thing out to my wife---that is a losing proposition). I thanked the person for finding my dog, but let them know I wouldn't be back for about 6 hours and asked if they could run Wiggins back to my house. They said sure- no problem and escorted my dog about 1/2 a mile to my home and let me know she was safely back home with the door firmly closed.
For those of you reading closely or who know me--you know there is a second shoe to drop and about 25 minutes later the phone rang again with a different person finding Clemmens eating stuff near a construction site. She was also walked home by a super cool family who was visiting from Texas.
Two different groups of people found my dogs, called me and then figured out where my house was and brought them home. What a great world we live in. What amazing people. I swear I almost saw rainbows and unicorns as I drove down I70 into Denver.
So I am loving everyone, and life is good. I drop the wife at doc for an apt and then hustle to the airport to drop my 13 year old daughter off to fly to St. Louis to be a mom's helper. I planned to use short term parking to keep an eye on her while she got through security and then run back to get the wife. The short term parking lot is very small with very narrow spaces. After circling twice I found only one spot open next to a mini van with its door all the way open. I asked if they could close it somewhat so I could park and they did.
When I returned to my car 25 min later they had left a couple of love notes for me. One said " better check your steering wheel for shit.....it appears an ass hole was driving it" and another said " YOU ARE AN ASS HAT".
On the plus side their grammar, spelling, and printing were excellent, and they didn't key my car. On the flip side they were so easily upset by my asking them to partially close their door so I could park my car they took the time to right me some notes.
It's a crazy world filled with all sorts of people.
During the summer I drove to Denver a lot. Honestly, I drive to Denver way too much--doctor apts, hockey, sailing, flights etc----and during the summer when the pass is open I take full advantage of the view and the short cut to make the trip more enjoyable. When driving the pass I almost always find myself driving behind another car. Some drivers pull to the side and let me pass. Conversely, I have had a driver swerve towards the middle of the road to try to keep me from passing. I personally love being passed. Let someone else attract the attention of the police. Still it is an interesting case study in behavior every time I drive the pass.
But that ain't fucking nothing. On a recent trip to Denver this summer with my son in Cape Cod and my wife and daughter in the car with me my phone rang as I approached Breck. I didn't recognize the number but decided to take a chance and answer the phone knowing I was risking a silly marketing call conversation. Glad I answered the phone because it was someone calling to let me know they had found my dog swimming near stillwater. Seems the wife didn't close the door securely and the dogs got bored and decided to go for a swim (please do not point the door thing out to my wife---that is a losing proposition). I thanked the person for finding my dog, but let them know I wouldn't be back for about 6 hours and asked if they could run Wiggins back to my house. They said sure- no problem and escorted my dog about 1/2 a mile to my home and let me know she was safely back home with the door firmly closed.
For those of you reading closely or who know me--you know there is a second shoe to drop and about 25 minutes later the phone rang again with a different person finding Clemmens eating stuff near a construction site. She was also walked home by a super cool family who was visiting from Texas.
Two different groups of people found my dogs, called me and then figured out where my house was and brought them home. What a great world we live in. What amazing people. I swear I almost saw rainbows and unicorns as I drove down I70 into Denver.
So I am loving everyone, and life is good. I drop the wife at doc for an apt and then hustle to the airport to drop my 13 year old daughter off to fly to St. Louis to be a mom's helper. I planned to use short term parking to keep an eye on her while she got through security and then run back to get the wife. The short term parking lot is very small with very narrow spaces. After circling twice I found only one spot open next to a mini van with its door all the way open. I asked if they could close it somewhat so I could park and they did.
When I returned to my car 25 min later they had left a couple of love notes for me. One said " better check your steering wheel for shit.....it appears an ass hole was driving it" and another said " YOU ARE AN ASS HAT".
On the plus side their grammar, spelling, and printing were excellent, and they didn't key my car. On the flip side they were so easily upset by my asking them to partially close their door so I could park my car they took the time to right me some notes.
It's a crazy world filled with all sorts of people.
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
my dog got porked
or whatever you want to call it when your dog gets nailed by a porcupine. Wow, that was a lot of needles.
I also learned it's good to have as much hair as a golden retriever has cause most of the needles didn't penetrate very far. Finally all the fur comes in handy.
I have decided to up my hiking a bit---crowds are down and it's nice and cool in the morning, the light is great, weather clear and there are still some wild flowers.
Sunday I hiked to American lake---Tuesday I went a ways down lincoln creek and hiked up to grizzly lake. Both mornings I hit the trail around 8 am-- on the way up to American lake I saw 1 other person, and shared the lake with 7 women from Basalt. On the way down I must have passed over 60 people heading up---kinda a pain for my walking mediation.
During my hike up to grizzly lake I saw no one. At the lake I saw no one. Only when I was 2/3rds of the way down did I run into anyone ---and the total on the descent was 3 parties of two people. Yes getting to the grizzly lake trail head is a pain, but with all the G-wagons in town I figured more people would make that climb (although I am thrilled that they don't).
It's interesting how few people go a little further off the beaten path. I saw this hughly in the tetons and Yellowstone where heading 1/2 mile to 1 mile off 'the beaten path' left you 1000s of acres to yourself.
I also suspect people like to do the 'hard stuff' to get bragging rights. American lake is rated strenuous, while Grizz is rated moderate. And people know about American so it means something to them while Grizzly is less well known. Interestingly, Grizzly starts out at around 10.6k feet puting the trail head about 600 ft under the peak of Ajax---and the lake is at about 12.6k so you do get a bit of elevation challenge. And there are the porcupines. I don't want to sit in judgement so I won't, but just know if you want to explore a little and care a little less about the name of what you climb there is a shit ton of great stuff you can have all to yourself.
Couple of pics and video of neighbors dog chasing a bear cub (very small dog and small bear--where is momma bear?)
I also learned it's good to have as much hair as a golden retriever has cause most of the needles didn't penetrate very far. Finally all the fur comes in handy.
I have decided to up my hiking a bit---crowds are down and it's nice and cool in the morning, the light is great, weather clear and there are still some wild flowers.
Sunday I hiked to American lake---Tuesday I went a ways down lincoln creek and hiked up to grizzly lake. Both mornings I hit the trail around 8 am-- on the way up to American lake I saw 1 other person, and shared the lake with 7 women from Basalt. On the way down I must have passed over 60 people heading up---kinda a pain for my walking mediation.
During my hike up to grizzly lake I saw no one. At the lake I saw no one. Only when I was 2/3rds of the way down did I run into anyone ---and the total on the descent was 3 parties of two people. Yes getting to the grizzly lake trail head is a pain, but with all the G-wagons in town I figured more people would make that climb (although I am thrilled that they don't).
It's interesting how few people go a little further off the beaten path. I saw this hughly in the tetons and Yellowstone where heading 1/2 mile to 1 mile off 'the beaten path' left you 1000s of acres to yourself.
I also suspect people like to do the 'hard stuff' to get bragging rights. American lake is rated strenuous, while Grizz is rated moderate. And people know about American so it means something to them while Grizzly is less well known. Interestingly, Grizzly starts out at around 10.6k feet puting the trail head about 600 ft under the peak of Ajax---and the lake is at about 12.6k so you do get a bit of elevation challenge. And there are the porcupines. I don't want to sit in judgement so I won't, but just know if you want to explore a little and care a little less about the name of what you climb there is a shit ton of great stuff you can have all to yourself.
Couple of pics and video of neighbors dog chasing a bear cub (very small dog and small bear--where is momma bear?)
yup I might have swum naked and no one would know cause I can see for miles and miles (Yes I was listening to the Who and shedding clothes)
now about that dog and bear
Thursday, August 22, 2019
summertime blues
Forgive me for wanting to be my son---but really what guy in their 50s doesn't sometimes look longingly at being a teenager again. Sure it's not all laughs, and cell phones are super dangerous, but still.......
So the boy (who always is bitching about living in Aspen cause he wants to sail and work on the water) spent the summer in Chatham on Cape Cod. He flew planes, sailed on a race team, and coached all ages. Yes he got paid to be on the water sailing or driving a coach boat. He even got to play the hero 'saving' a young girl who capsized her boat and got her hair tangled in the rigging.
Did I mention that he lucked into housing with an 84 year old woman? While that might not sound super duper she lived on the ocean and had a power boat which he used to commute back and forth to 'work'. Yup that is right--wake up, hop in boat and drive it to the club to teach sailing, race with team, and then power boat home.
Coming home on Saturday and heading to school on Monday was a wee bit of shock. That said we don't have tornadoes here (he got caught in one on the way to work freaking all the local moms out), no sharks (and Cape Cod is super sharky) and no EEE mosquitoes (he had a race end early to avoid bites from the airborne pests. EEE is fatal 80% of the time, so while I am thrilled he had a great summer and a bit jealous, I am turning a deaf ear to the complaints about how horrible Aspen is.
Did I mention that he is going to spend the next week rafting cataract canyon as part of school. The only challenge is gonna be him getting home in time to make the Weezer concert. Yea its sooooooo hard to be a teenage boy.
So the boy (who always is bitching about living in Aspen cause he wants to sail and work on the water) spent the summer in Chatham on Cape Cod. He flew planes, sailed on a race team, and coached all ages. Yes he got paid to be on the water sailing or driving a coach boat. He even got to play the hero 'saving' a young girl who capsized her boat and got her hair tangled in the rigging.
Did I mention that he lucked into housing with an 84 year old woman? While that might not sound super duper she lived on the ocean and had a power boat which he used to commute back and forth to 'work'. Yup that is right--wake up, hop in boat and drive it to the club to teach sailing, race with team, and then power boat home.
Coming home on Saturday and heading to school on Monday was a wee bit of shock. That said we don't have tornadoes here (he got caught in one on the way to work freaking all the local moms out), no sharks (and Cape Cod is super sharky) and no EEE mosquitoes (he had a race end early to avoid bites from the airborne pests. EEE is fatal 80% of the time, so while I am thrilled he had a great summer and a bit jealous, I am turning a deaf ear to the complaints about how horrible Aspen is.
Did I mention that he is going to spend the next week rafting cataract canyon as part of school. The only challenge is gonna be him getting home in time to make the Weezer concert. Yea its sooooooo hard to be a teenage boy.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
4th of July Parades---I got dibs
Before I get to the meat of the matter a quick observation re Trump's 4th of July fest. His speech wasn't a crafted from his campaign material. Yea. However, I have done a multivariable analysis and it shows that countries that have more and bigger military parades tend to have declining relative military strength (France being an epic example of this). Those with strong-relatively increasing military strength tend to shy away from the need to show their strength via military parades. Bottom line, in my experience the guy who talks a lot in a bar fight isn't the one you have to worry about--its the guy you didn't hear who is the most dangerous. Hopefully, the Donald's need to have a parade is more a reflection of his weakness, and not our country's.
Back to celebrating the 4th of July in Aspen and Chatham. Both are small towns with big vacation crowds who relish showing off their patriotism. There are some noticeable differences. Chatham definitely channels more old school WASP, fife, drum and tri corner hats, and nantucket red, while Aspen displays much heavy equipment and the tighty whities rollerblade team in red, white and blue body paint. Despite these differences, they have also both been infected by the need to call dibs.
At risk of sounding like a grumpy old man--I remember back in the day when you showed up at a parade a bit before the start and found a place to stand. In both Aspen and Chatham people started 'reserving' spots with blankets and chairs a day ahead of time. A similar thing happens with the Chatham band concert, as well as many of the outdoor concerts in Aspen. This is a kinda insidious problem--once a couple of people call dibs if you don't you could be left with a pretty bad view (really not the end of the world--I hear ya). However, are the voices of our better angels being drowned out by people shouting DIBS?
At risk of over-analysing reserving space on a parade route, what is up with the need to win the best spot? Shouldn't it be ok to get what you get and don't get upset? Do we really need rules to regulate this behavior (the tragedy of the commons). What happens if you mark your spot two days before the event? What about 3? If chairs and blankets are ok what about a bench or bleachers. And if bleachers are ok, how long until someone decides to make some money selling their prime reserved space? Is that capitalism at its finest or an individual motinizing a public good? For sure its a slippery slope.
I am all for competition and capitalism in its proper place. I am also a big believer in community, where we work together and enjoy things together. Yes the early bird gets the worm--but should everything be a worm that we compete for. If so, do you really want the inevitable rules that must follow to regulate that competition? And yes rules are necessary when we compete otherwise why call dibs? Just show up with the biggest gun and a willingness to use it, and the best spot is yours. Is that what makes American great?
Ok. Maybe I am ranting too much like a grumpy old man, but you get the point. And while we are celebrating the birth of American, it is a good time to remember how we all got here. If you aren't an American Indian, be thankful that no one called dibs on American and shut the door on your family's arrival. Today is a day to celebrate, let's do it as a community and next year leave the chairs and blankets at home.
God Bless America.
Back to celebrating the 4th of July in Aspen and Chatham. Both are small towns with big vacation crowds who relish showing off their patriotism. There are some noticeable differences. Chatham definitely channels more old school WASP, fife, drum and tri corner hats, and nantucket red, while Aspen displays much heavy equipment and the tighty whities rollerblade team in red, white and blue body paint. Despite these differences, they have also both been infected by the need to call dibs.
At risk of sounding like a grumpy old man--I remember back in the day when you showed up at a parade a bit before the start and found a place to stand. In both Aspen and Chatham people started 'reserving' spots with blankets and chairs a day ahead of time. A similar thing happens with the Chatham band concert, as well as many of the outdoor concerts in Aspen. This is a kinda insidious problem--once a couple of people call dibs if you don't you could be left with a pretty bad view (really not the end of the world--I hear ya). However, are the voices of our better angels being drowned out by people shouting DIBS?
At risk of over-analysing reserving space on a parade route, what is up with the need to win the best spot? Shouldn't it be ok to get what you get and don't get upset? Do we really need rules to regulate this behavior (the tragedy of the commons). What happens if you mark your spot two days before the event? What about 3? If chairs and blankets are ok what about a bench or bleachers. And if bleachers are ok, how long until someone decides to make some money selling their prime reserved space? Is that capitalism at its finest or an individual motinizing a public good? For sure its a slippery slope.
I am all for competition and capitalism in its proper place. I am also a big believer in community, where we work together and enjoy things together. Yes the early bird gets the worm--but should everything be a worm that we compete for. If so, do you really want the inevitable rules that must follow to regulate that competition? And yes rules are necessary when we compete otherwise why call dibs? Just show up with the biggest gun and a willingness to use it, and the best spot is yours. Is that what makes American great?
Ok. Maybe I am ranting too much like a grumpy old man, but you get the point. And while we are celebrating the birth of American, it is a good time to remember how we all got here. If you aren't an American Indian, be thankful that no one called dibs on American and shut the door on your family's arrival. Today is a day to celebrate, let's do it as a community and next year leave the chairs and blankets at home.
God Bless America.
going native
sorry about the long absence, but I'm back for better or worse
I think I am starting to be an aspen native. Really you may ask? Really. Why?
1. I can smell bears on the trail---they smell kinda like like ripe berries mixed with elk crap. I was walking the dogs up the ute the other day and thought---humm that smells like bear, and around the next switch back the race was on between a bear and my dogs---lucky the bear won
2. I found myself having a conversation with another local at a bar about how last year the limited rain resulted in a late and limited acorn supply along with low berry yield resulting in hungry bears eating drywall, hot tub covers and anything else that might contain calories. This year the heavy snow resulted in limited chokeberry fruit which also made for hungry bears. Yup, I've gone from talking about funding rates, execution algos and credit spreads to crops for bears. Bottom line Aspen has a bear problem.
3. I found myself calling a friend to ask if he has harvested his hay yet. My daughter's bunny prefers locally grown all organic hay and he is a great supplier and $3 bucks cheaper than the Co Op, and 95% cheaper than the crap you big city bunny owners buy at Petco. Yes, I can have an informed conversation about hay and I do buy it by the bushel.
PS I have seen a bear each of the last 4 days (since my return from Cape Cod). Today's sighting included a very small mom and 2 cubs who couldn't have weighed more than 30 lbs. Clemmens scared one of the cubs who scampered up a 3 foot tall Aspen sapling. Very cute, and I would share a pic but I was too busy keeping the dogs under control so as not to piss off momma bear.
I think I am starting to be an aspen native. Really you may ask? Really. Why?
1. I can smell bears on the trail---they smell kinda like like ripe berries mixed with elk crap. I was walking the dogs up the ute the other day and thought---humm that smells like bear, and around the next switch back the race was on between a bear and my dogs---lucky the bear won
2. I found myself having a conversation with another local at a bar about how last year the limited rain resulted in a late and limited acorn supply along with low berry yield resulting in hungry bears eating drywall, hot tub covers and anything else that might contain calories. This year the heavy snow resulted in limited chokeberry fruit which also made for hungry bears. Yup, I've gone from talking about funding rates, execution algos and credit spreads to crops for bears. Bottom line Aspen has a bear problem.
3. I found myself calling a friend to ask if he has harvested his hay yet. My daughter's bunny prefers locally grown all organic hay and he is a great supplier and $3 bucks cheaper than the Co Op, and 95% cheaper than the crap you big city bunny owners buy at Petco. Yes, I can have an informed conversation about hay and I do buy it by the bushel.
PS I have seen a bear each of the last 4 days (since my return from Cape Cod). Today's sighting included a very small mom and 2 cubs who couldn't have weighed more than 30 lbs. Clemmens scared one of the cubs who scampered up a 3 foot tall Aspen sapling. Very cute, and I would share a pic but I was too busy keeping the dogs under control so as not to piss off momma bear.
Monday, July 1, 2019
doggie danger
as promised some lighter fare ---with videos
Getting back to the origins of this blog--comparing big city to small town living, I want to take a moment to compare the risks of letting your dog play off lead.
In the big city there are cars. Lots of cars and it seemed to me that often food was sold near busy streets, (food trucks, hot dog carts and just lots of food being dropped). All that food attracts my dogs, which makes the possibility of dog-car interaction likely. My dogs never got run over but over 14 years there was the occasional cringe moment when a dog ran across Halsted or Webster in search of food. Or a rat.
In the mountains we have much less food laying about (the bears, coyotes etc clean that up at night). We do have much more wildlife to chase but less roads to chase it across. However, after an epic winter snow we got water. Lots of water. My dogs love to play in water, but right now that isn't always a good idea.
Friendly water to enjoy
scary water to avoid (this is some same water as above just a mile lower down trail)
Getting back to the origins of this blog--comparing big city to small town living, I want to take a moment to compare the risks of letting your dog play off lead.
In the big city there are cars. Lots of cars and it seemed to me that often food was sold near busy streets, (food trucks, hot dog carts and just lots of food being dropped). All that food attracts my dogs, which makes the possibility of dog-car interaction likely. My dogs never got run over but over 14 years there was the occasional cringe moment when a dog ran across Halsted or Webster in search of food. Or a rat.
In the mountains we have much less food laying about (the bears, coyotes etc clean that up at night). We do have much more wildlife to chase but less roads to chase it across. However, after an epic winter snow we got water. Lots of water. My dogs love to play in water, but right now that isn't always a good idea.
scary water to avoid (this is some same water as above just a mile lower down trail)
and sneaky water that looks safe but is flowing pretty fast (ie paddle sideways for eddies not straight up against current--although I love her using the tree to try to help)
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
And the Jury says.......I am a racist
if the Jury is mostly composed of people of color or people who are working in higher education. In general the opinions of my friends broke down as follows---friends of color concluded that the intensity of my spidey sense was indicative of racial prejudice. My friends in higher ed believe we are all racist and sent me links to take quizzes and thoughtful articles about prejudice. My white friends not in education all concluded that I did the right thing, wasn't having an outsized reaction and wasn't a racist. One did suggest that I respond with 'I didn't bring my tweezers so I don't think I can help ya'. While that is a very witty rejoinder, my racist mindset leads me to conclude that might have been considered provocative and just maybe might have made the situation worse.
Everyone, regardless of background agreed that the man who moved over 3 rows of seats to tap me on the shoulder and to ask for a ball scratch was provocative---ie trying to provoke a response. I can't read the young man's mind but I kinda doubt he was just hoping that I would ignore him and leave, but maybe that is a racist assumption.
Please feel free to stop reading here--I will return to lighter fare with my next post. I promise. But if you want to think about race please consider reading on.
I believe my views are formed by my experiences and 'knowledge' that I have absorbed. I believe that is how most of us form opinions of other groups and yes it does involved a lot of assumptions--each individual does not a group make. Maybe if I had time to get to know each individual in the group that was in the movie theater I would have felt comfortable telling them to shut the f*ck up, but I didn't have that opportunity.
I grew up in a white part of St. Louis with mostly white friends. I did experience getting pulled over at gunpoint by Ladue police officers in high school with an African American friend because he was black, but in general I can't claim to have experienced the kind of racial prejudice my black friends experience all the time. They have told me stories about being pulled over for being black, being unable to hail a taxi, being closely monitored in stores, and having people cross the street when they approached. I have no doubt that happens all the time, and you could argue I did a version of that fleeing the movie theater.
However, some of those same friends told me of being assaulted by people of color. A quick look at some statistics indicate that you are 6xs more likely to be shot to death by a man than a woman in the US and 7xs more likely in Missouri. In Missouri you are 3.6xs more likely to be shot to death by a black person than a white person. Those are objective facts---mix that in with horribly subjective feelings like what kind of energy did they radiate? what seemed to be their intent? and my actions can be seen as very racist or very smart.
I have spent much of my life trying to ascertain risks. Between having my son with me and the small chance that someone was carrying a gun created a very asymmetric risk profile. If I call out their bad behavior and stand my ground, maybe they shut up and I get to watch the movie in peace. Maybe either or both of us die or are injured. Do I want to risk even a small chance of my son's death to watch the last hour of Dark Phoenix? NO.
There is also an interesting question of what my son learned from the experience. You could argue that I have implanted racists assumptions into him--assume the worst of black people and flee, or that I taught him to turn the other cheek, take the high road, and don't get goaded into a fight.
Conclusions:
Trusting your gut can be racist, but it can also be right. Judging a book by its cover can be predicucial but it also can be informative. Statistically I am much less likely to be shot by a group of white girls than black men. If the white women all looked like Ronda Rousey, I might feel just as scared (although what would she ask me to scratch?)
We need to be more empathic. Americans need to try to realize how much it stinks to be judged by your skin color. To get pulled over for driving while black (and yes studies that control for every factor including high crime neighborhoods etc show that racism does drive traffic stops). To fear being shot because your skin color and sex is considered threatening. However, there are approximately 20 million traffic stops in the US per year---only a tiny tiny fraction of which result in a horrific outcome.
The situation around Oberlin College is informative of how complicated issues around race can be. It's worth doing your own case study on that incident, but at a high level a black student shoplifted a bottle of wine from a store, was caught and prosecuted, then other students with support from the college decided the bakery was racist and protested the store and the college pulled business from them. A jury found no racial discrimination and awarded $44 million in damages against Oberlin. Less noted but worth noting, the jury was all white.
oh oberlin
It's also important to realize how far we have come. The Voting Rights Act was signed in 1965 and less than 50 years later a black man was elected president. In 1986 the US Supreme court ruled sodomy laws WERE constitutional. Only in 2003 did the Supreme court rule that sodomy laws were unconstitutional. Twelve years later the Supreme court legalized gay marriage. That is a lot of progress in a short period of time. Some are impatient we haven't moved faster on eliminating all discrimination, others are unhappy with identity politics, and feeling they are being told how they must behave.
Bottom line---I think more perspective and empathy would go a long way to reducing racism and discrimination, along with accepting that people tend to group with like people. To put it simply--I would very much enjoy watching a Blues game with a bunch of St. Louis hockey fans, not so much with a bunch of brain eating Martians (who might be really great, interesting life forms with a passion for hockey and a take out bag of brains to eat BUT I am not that woke).
Everyone, regardless of background agreed that the man who moved over 3 rows of seats to tap me on the shoulder and to ask for a ball scratch was provocative---ie trying to provoke a response. I can't read the young man's mind but I kinda doubt he was just hoping that I would ignore him and leave, but maybe that is a racist assumption.
Please feel free to stop reading here--I will return to lighter fare with my next post. I promise. But if you want to think about race please consider reading on.
I believe my views are formed by my experiences and 'knowledge' that I have absorbed. I believe that is how most of us form opinions of other groups and yes it does involved a lot of assumptions--each individual does not a group make. Maybe if I had time to get to know each individual in the group that was in the movie theater I would have felt comfortable telling them to shut the f*ck up, but I didn't have that opportunity.
I grew up in a white part of St. Louis with mostly white friends. I did experience getting pulled over at gunpoint by Ladue police officers in high school with an African American friend because he was black, but in general I can't claim to have experienced the kind of racial prejudice my black friends experience all the time. They have told me stories about being pulled over for being black, being unable to hail a taxi, being closely monitored in stores, and having people cross the street when they approached. I have no doubt that happens all the time, and you could argue I did a version of that fleeing the movie theater.
However, some of those same friends told me of being assaulted by people of color. A quick look at some statistics indicate that you are 6xs more likely to be shot to death by a man than a woman in the US and 7xs more likely in Missouri. In Missouri you are 3.6xs more likely to be shot to death by a black person than a white person. Those are objective facts---mix that in with horribly subjective feelings like what kind of energy did they radiate? what seemed to be their intent? and my actions can be seen as very racist or very smart.
I have spent much of my life trying to ascertain risks. Between having my son with me and the small chance that someone was carrying a gun created a very asymmetric risk profile. If I call out their bad behavior and stand my ground, maybe they shut up and I get to watch the movie in peace. Maybe either or both of us die or are injured. Do I want to risk even a small chance of my son's death to watch the last hour of Dark Phoenix? NO.
There is also an interesting question of what my son learned from the experience. You could argue that I have implanted racists assumptions into him--assume the worst of black people and flee, or that I taught him to turn the other cheek, take the high road, and don't get goaded into a fight.
Conclusions:
Trusting your gut can be racist, but it can also be right. Judging a book by its cover can be predicucial but it also can be informative. Statistically I am much less likely to be shot by a group of white girls than black men. If the white women all looked like Ronda Rousey, I might feel just as scared (although what would she ask me to scratch?)
We need to be more empathic. Americans need to try to realize how much it stinks to be judged by your skin color. To get pulled over for driving while black (and yes studies that control for every factor including high crime neighborhoods etc show that racism does drive traffic stops). To fear being shot because your skin color and sex is considered threatening. However, there are approximately 20 million traffic stops in the US per year---only a tiny tiny fraction of which result in a horrific outcome.
The situation around Oberlin College is informative of how complicated issues around race can be. It's worth doing your own case study on that incident, but at a high level a black student shoplifted a bottle of wine from a store, was caught and prosecuted, then other students with support from the college decided the bakery was racist and protested the store and the college pulled business from them. A jury found no racial discrimination and awarded $44 million in damages against Oberlin. Less noted but worth noting, the jury was all white.
oh oberlin
It's also important to realize how far we have come. The Voting Rights Act was signed in 1965 and less than 50 years later a black man was elected president. In 1986 the US Supreme court ruled sodomy laws WERE constitutional. Only in 2003 did the Supreme court rule that sodomy laws were unconstitutional. Twelve years later the Supreme court legalized gay marriage. That is a lot of progress in a short period of time. Some are impatient we haven't moved faster on eliminating all discrimination, others are unhappy with identity politics, and feeling they are being told how they must behave.
Bottom line---I think more perspective and empathy would go a long way to reducing racism and discrimination, along with accepting that people tend to group with like people. To put it simply--I would very much enjoy watching a Blues game with a bunch of St. Louis hockey fans, not so much with a bunch of brain eating Martians (who might be really great, interesting life forms with a passion for hockey and a take out bag of brains to eat BUT I am not that woke).
Friday, June 21, 2019
am i racist?
I've never really tried a post like this---please try to be patient and actually read it, and then I would appreciate your thoughts. Also, I do appreciate the comments I got regarding sports parents---shame everyone has a similar story to tell of off the hook parents. What is wrong with us?
But onto race and taking my son to the movies in St. Louis.
Preamble
I think racism can sometimes be hard to identify, and subject to individual perspective, environment and upbringing so let me try to give you clean facts first and then we can wade into more difficult subjective questions.
Facts
My 15 year old son and I went to see a movie at the St. Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights on a Friday night. It started at 8pm.
The Galleria is located next to two of the 'nicest' suburbs in St. Louis---both Clayton and Ladue touch the Galleria--Clayton is home to one of the top 50 best public high schools in the country, Ladue is home to a top 20 private school--both have many many multi million dollar homes. I grew up in Clayton and went to school in Ladue.
About 20 minutes into the movie 9-15 young adult men between the age of 15-25 came into the theater. I can't give you an exact number because I didn't want to stare. 4 sat four rows ahead of us, while the rest sat 4 or 5 rows behind us and maybe 4 seats closer to the wall. They immediately started a ruckus. Speaking loudly, rapping, tossing popcorn and other stuff at each other. My spider sense was tingling. On a scale of 1-10 I would say it was about at a 6. This went on for around 30 minutes with my anxiety growing. All of the other theater goers just ignored the crap behavior. Then one of the young men moved into the seat right behind me---tapped me on my shoulder and said,'my balls itch. Would you scratch them'. At this point my spidey sense is somewhere between and 8-9 (FYI a 10 would be having a gun visible).
I stood up and told my son we were leaving. We got up, left the screening room without making eye contact or saying a word. In the lobby I saw a manager--told him very briefly what was going on and indicated I thought a fight could break out and that their could be weapons, and asked for a refund. A refund was refused and he asked if I saw any weapons and I said no (as I said I didn't really want to take a hard look at them). I didn't want to stay around any longer than necessary, so we left. Outside the movie theater area but still inside the mall we ran into a mall cop. My son suggested we talk to the mall cop. I told him it wasn't worth it--he wasn't armed and wouldn't want to mix it up with those kids.
I didn't know what the theater manager would do, and I was worried that if he acted to stop the behavior the kids might come after us in the parking lot. We hightailed it to the car and fled to Ted Drews.
Additional facts, some of which I knew and some of which I didn't but go to the mosaic.
Although the St. Louis Galleria is located in a 'nice' part of town it has a bit of an ugly reputation which I didn't know. When I talked to some local friends they indicated that they wouldn't go to the movies there. A quick Google search showed 4 incidents of shots fired over the proceeding 18 months, as well as a stabbing and many fights.
There have been a number of movie theater shootings--I obviously remember the Big One in Aurora CO. There have been a number of other shootings at movie theaters which I also remember to some degree.
Missouri has some of the most relaxed gun laws in the country paired with very aggressive stand your ground laws. The result has been in increase in firearm death rates that way outpaces the nation and according to the CDC puts MO 6th in the country in gun death rates.
Questions:
1. If the young adult men has been white instead of black would my spidey sense have been pinging as aggressively?
2. If guns weren't such a clear and present risk factor in this country and in St. Louis in particular would I, other patrons, the theatre manager, or the mall cops be more willing to stand up to bad behavior?
3. Did I react appropriately? Should I have pushed back on the young men? Should I have told others? My assumption was that they were looking for a fight, but maybe they were just acting like stupid kids.
4. Would I have felt better if I was armed? No. I tend to believe in the old testament law regarding guns--one rule is "don't pull it if you ain't gonna use it" and do I really want to start shooting people? No. Do I want to start shooting people and possibly provoke a gun fight with my son next to me? NO NO NO. Would Missouri's stand your ground laws probably have protected me had I shot a bunch of people? Probably. Did I fear for my and my son's safety? Absolutely. Did one of the kids climb over 3 rows of seats to sit right behind me and make contact with me? Yup. Did he direct a nasty comment at me and my son. Ya betcha? Was there a way for me to escape? Yes and I used it but could I have stood my ground? Does horrible behavior in a movie theatre warrant being shot?
For those of you who don't remember or didn't track the final outcome over the shooting over a disagreement in a bar over a dog's weight it's worth reading this link.
man starts bar fight--shoots 2 and kills one and takes plea after hung jury
5. Would I have felt better if we had to go through a metal detector to enter the theater? Yes. However, movie theaters are barely making money and adding a line item to their expenses for that level of security would bankrupt most. And there is both the hassle factor and the low level anxiety created by needing that kind of security to go to a movie.
So was I right or wrong? Did I overreact (or underreact). Would I have reacted the same way if the bad behavior came from white men, or women?
I look forward to your thoughts---and promise the next post will be much lighter fare.
But onto race and taking my son to the movies in St. Louis.
Preamble
I think racism can sometimes be hard to identify, and subject to individual perspective, environment and upbringing so let me try to give you clean facts first and then we can wade into more difficult subjective questions.
Facts
My 15 year old son and I went to see a movie at the St. Louis Galleria in Richmond Heights on a Friday night. It started at 8pm.
The Galleria is located next to two of the 'nicest' suburbs in St. Louis---both Clayton and Ladue touch the Galleria--Clayton is home to one of the top 50 best public high schools in the country, Ladue is home to a top 20 private school--both have many many multi million dollar homes. I grew up in Clayton and went to school in Ladue.
About 20 minutes into the movie 9-15 young adult men between the age of 15-25 came into the theater. I can't give you an exact number because I didn't want to stare. 4 sat four rows ahead of us, while the rest sat 4 or 5 rows behind us and maybe 4 seats closer to the wall. They immediately started a ruckus. Speaking loudly, rapping, tossing popcorn and other stuff at each other. My spider sense was tingling. On a scale of 1-10 I would say it was about at a 6. This went on for around 30 minutes with my anxiety growing. All of the other theater goers just ignored the crap behavior. Then one of the young men moved into the seat right behind me---tapped me on my shoulder and said,'my balls itch. Would you scratch them'. At this point my spidey sense is somewhere between and 8-9 (FYI a 10 would be having a gun visible).
I stood up and told my son we were leaving. We got up, left the screening room without making eye contact or saying a word. In the lobby I saw a manager--told him very briefly what was going on and indicated I thought a fight could break out and that their could be weapons, and asked for a refund. A refund was refused and he asked if I saw any weapons and I said no (as I said I didn't really want to take a hard look at them). I didn't want to stay around any longer than necessary, so we left. Outside the movie theater area but still inside the mall we ran into a mall cop. My son suggested we talk to the mall cop. I told him it wasn't worth it--he wasn't armed and wouldn't want to mix it up with those kids.
I didn't know what the theater manager would do, and I was worried that if he acted to stop the behavior the kids might come after us in the parking lot. We hightailed it to the car and fled to Ted Drews.
Additional facts, some of which I knew and some of which I didn't but go to the mosaic.
Although the St. Louis Galleria is located in a 'nice' part of town it has a bit of an ugly reputation which I didn't know. When I talked to some local friends they indicated that they wouldn't go to the movies there. A quick Google search showed 4 incidents of shots fired over the proceeding 18 months, as well as a stabbing and many fights.
There have been a number of movie theater shootings--I obviously remember the Big One in Aurora CO. There have been a number of other shootings at movie theaters which I also remember to some degree.
Missouri has some of the most relaxed gun laws in the country paired with very aggressive stand your ground laws. The result has been in increase in firearm death rates that way outpaces the nation and according to the CDC puts MO 6th in the country in gun death rates.
Questions:
1. If the young adult men has been white instead of black would my spidey sense have been pinging as aggressively?
2. If guns weren't such a clear and present risk factor in this country and in St. Louis in particular would I, other patrons, the theatre manager, or the mall cops be more willing to stand up to bad behavior?
3. Did I react appropriately? Should I have pushed back on the young men? Should I have told others? My assumption was that they were looking for a fight, but maybe they were just acting like stupid kids.
4. Would I have felt better if I was armed? No. I tend to believe in the old testament law regarding guns--one rule is "don't pull it if you ain't gonna use it" and do I really want to start shooting people? No. Do I want to start shooting people and possibly provoke a gun fight with my son next to me? NO NO NO. Would Missouri's stand your ground laws probably have protected me had I shot a bunch of people? Probably. Did I fear for my and my son's safety? Absolutely. Did one of the kids climb over 3 rows of seats to sit right behind me and make contact with me? Yup. Did he direct a nasty comment at me and my son. Ya betcha? Was there a way for me to escape? Yes and I used it but could I have stood my ground? Does horrible behavior in a movie theatre warrant being shot?
For those of you who don't remember or didn't track the final outcome over the shooting over a disagreement in a bar over a dog's weight it's worth reading this link.
man starts bar fight--shoots 2 and kills one and takes plea after hung jury
5. Would I have felt better if we had to go through a metal detector to enter the theater? Yes. However, movie theaters are barely making money and adding a line item to their expenses for that level of security would bankrupt most. And there is both the hassle factor and the low level anxiety created by needing that kind of security to go to a movie.
So was I right or wrong? Did I overreact (or underreact). Would I have reacted the same way if the bad behavior came from white men, or women?
I look forward to your thoughts---and promise the next post will be much lighter fare.
Thursday, June 20, 2019
so my daughter wants to become a hockey ref
which brings us of course to Lakewood CO baseball game between 7 year olds. Seems the 13 year old ump (same age as my daughter) called a player out for batting out of order. Rumor has it that there was also a lot of cussing coming from parents (and maybe coaches). That is rumor---what actually started what you see in the below video I can't tell you. What I can tell you is parents, adults etc lost their minds at a baseball game for 7 year old kids.
baseball parents lose their shit
After the video went online and much of the nation got to see Colorado at its best the league tossed both teams for the rest of the season, the police have charged 5 parents with assault, and apparently are trying and so far been unsuccessful at IDing the guy in the teal shorts. Really, no parents are willing to finger the guy who knocked someone out. Seems like while the parents preach one thing their actions continue to be dodgy.
Remember the Littleton hockey coach who lost his mind in this pregame rant.
hockey coach loses mind
yea he got fired. But let's not forget a couple of things--there were other adults in that room, and they didn't stop it. Also pretty much all leagues have a policy against cell phones in locker rooms---if this wasn't recorded and put online would the coach have been fired? Was the player who captured the rant on their phone and published it punished (honestly he probably should be----or what is the rule----no using cell phones in locker room unless an adult is misbehaving in which case its fine and encouraged).
While these incidents both strike close to home (my daughter has played puck against some of those boys), we have an incident right in my backyard. During a series of games against Telluride at the Bantam level things got increasingly out of hand and by the 3rd game of the weekend a full on fight broke out on the ice which included one kid getting knocked out and even after he crumbled to the ice the opponent continued to beat on a kid who was out cold.
So my daughter wants to be a hockey ref...............
Up next----am I a racist?
baseball parents lose their shit
After the video went online and much of the nation got to see Colorado at its best the league tossed both teams for the rest of the season, the police have charged 5 parents with assault, and apparently are trying and so far been unsuccessful at IDing the guy in the teal shorts. Really, no parents are willing to finger the guy who knocked someone out. Seems like while the parents preach one thing their actions continue to be dodgy.
Remember the Littleton hockey coach who lost his mind in this pregame rant.
hockey coach loses mind
yea he got fired. But let's not forget a couple of things--there were other adults in that room, and they didn't stop it. Also pretty much all leagues have a policy against cell phones in locker rooms---if this wasn't recorded and put online would the coach have been fired? Was the player who captured the rant on their phone and published it punished (honestly he probably should be----or what is the rule----no using cell phones in locker room unless an adult is misbehaving in which case its fine and encouraged).
While these incidents both strike close to home (my daughter has played puck against some of those boys), we have an incident right in my backyard. During a series of games against Telluride at the Bantam level things got increasingly out of hand and by the 3rd game of the weekend a full on fight broke out on the ice which included one kid getting knocked out and even after he crumbled to the ice the opponent continued to beat on a kid who was out cold.
So my daughter wants to be a hockey ref...............
Up next----am I a racist?
Monday, June 17, 2019
mad scientist gets wet
my son likes to do science.
He has made liquid oxygen, potato cannons, various ingots, and a bunch of other stuff.
After the end of school he and a friend were doing some science and decided it would be better in the dark so the garage door went down, the lights went off and.................well I guess it got a wee bit hot because he set off one of the sprinklers. ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
The sprinkler system we have is a bit old, and will trigger at 125 degrees which actually isn't very hot. And being an older system it sprays glycol not water which is a nasty, hard to clean substance. Also no one has ever shown me where the turn off is for the fire suppression system so we had about 20-30 min of full on glycol spray in garage. Yuck. And expensive.
I am also looking at buying a business, and as I tried to keep the glycol flowing down the floor drains I found myself thinking ---WTF do all homes in Aspen have to have fire suppression systems. If yes, this could be interesting because not only do you get paid to install them you get paid to service them and I love recurring revenue.
A quick call to some of my architect and builder friends confirmed that yes most homes in the area require fire suppression systems, so maybe my son has found a business for me.
But the other part of my brain---the one that is filling out ooooodles of paperwork so he can work as a sailing instructor this summer while under the age of 18 is thinking WTF---have we jumped the shark on rules. Between the sprinklers doing a ton more damage than a fire most likely ever could (my insurance buddies confirmed this to be true), and my kid needed to prove he is a citizen with 3 types of IDs, getting 'working papers' which includes his full doctor's report, and a sign off from the local school superintendent and 6 more forms, I wonder if we maybe have jumped the shark. I have heard the road to hell is paved with good intentions-- and when I hear of a couple of employers who won't hire anyone under 18 because the paperwork is too onerous, and when people complain about the cost of real estate in Aspen I wonder if a few less rules might lower real estate costs (or increase youth employment) without any collateral damage (except maybe to the income of businesses created to deal with these silly rules).
PS maybe I should run for President:
I promise to cut red tape
not take oppo research from anyone (foreign or domestic)
only hire people who are smarter than me (which actually isn't a very high bar)
and never ever tweet
He has made liquid oxygen, potato cannons, various ingots, and a bunch of other stuff.
After the end of school he and a friend were doing some science and decided it would be better in the dark so the garage door went down, the lights went off and.................well I guess it got a wee bit hot because he set off one of the sprinklers. ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
The sprinkler system we have is a bit old, and will trigger at 125 degrees which actually isn't very hot. And being an older system it sprays glycol not water which is a nasty, hard to clean substance. Also no one has ever shown me where the turn off is for the fire suppression system so we had about 20-30 min of full on glycol spray in garage. Yuck. And expensive.
I am also looking at buying a business, and as I tried to keep the glycol flowing down the floor drains I found myself thinking ---WTF do all homes in Aspen have to have fire suppression systems. If yes, this could be interesting because not only do you get paid to install them you get paid to service them and I love recurring revenue.
A quick call to some of my architect and builder friends confirmed that yes most homes in the area require fire suppression systems, so maybe my son has found a business for me.
But the other part of my brain---the one that is filling out ooooodles of paperwork so he can work as a sailing instructor this summer while under the age of 18 is thinking WTF---have we jumped the shark on rules. Between the sprinklers doing a ton more damage than a fire most likely ever could (my insurance buddies confirmed this to be true), and my kid needed to prove he is a citizen with 3 types of IDs, getting 'working papers' which includes his full doctor's report, and a sign off from the local school superintendent and 6 more forms, I wonder if we maybe have jumped the shark. I have heard the road to hell is paved with good intentions-- and when I hear of a couple of employers who won't hire anyone under 18 because the paperwork is too onerous, and when people complain about the cost of real estate in Aspen I wonder if a few less rules might lower real estate costs (or increase youth employment) without any collateral damage (except maybe to the income of businesses created to deal with these silly rules).
PS maybe I should run for President:
I promise to cut red tape
not take oppo research from anyone (foreign or domestic)
only hire people who are smarter than me (which actually isn't a very high bar)
and never ever tweet
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
ding dong the witch is dead
the wife and team APAC has managed to get the Superintendent of Aspen Schools to resign. He wants to spend more time with his family which is more than a bit ironic given that he got his daughter hired to be the head psychologist of the district. Still this should be a big win for the kids and teachers and pretty much everyone else who was associated with the district.
My ski season started on November and has continued into June. Thank you Ski Co for reopening the mountain---and the skiing this past weekend was GOOD. And then the wife jumped on the paddle board and I hiked and biked. Nice to be able to get all those activities in at the same time. Yea Aspen.
But all that snow has consequences. Not sure what the right term is but one guy died and 2 others injured in roof avalanches in Crested Butte.
rooflanches
My ski season started on November and has continued into June. Thank you Ski Co for reopening the mountain---and the skiing this past weekend was GOOD. And then the wife jumped on the paddle board and I hiked and biked. Nice to be able to get all those activities in at the same time. Yea Aspen.
But all that snow has consequences. Not sure what the right term is but one guy died and 2 others injured in roof avalanches in Crested Butte.
rooflanches
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
that ain't fucking nothing
yea ever have that ' friend' or maybe person you work with who is always one upping you?
Well we got some of that here in Aspen.
I thought it was pretty exceptional that my daughter had a soccer practice on Friday, drove to Denver for a hockey practice on Saturday, and on Sunday had her birthday party on Aspen mountain at a cabin we rented (ie lots of skiing and stupid shenanigans). Taking a small detour to shenanigan land the kids boot skied all of Aspen mountain (that is skiing without skis--just in boots for those of ya not down with the lingo). Anyhow ski patrol was kind enough to inform us that skiing seems to require skis these days.
boot skiing above and moms singing below
anyhow back to the matter at hand
so I was telling a friend about my daughter's soccer, hockey, ski weekend triathlon and they looked at me in all seriousness and asked "what no lacrosse?".
Yup there is always someone doing more, being better etc. Or as the old line goes " there is always someone thinner or richer" (or both) and they probably have a house in Aspen.
Which brings me to a quiz---what should Aspen's motto be
1. Exclusive by design
2. 3 houses or 3 jobs
3. Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess
4. Home of parents who never ever stopped partying (and hope to be in Scarface 2)
Tapping into my calm yoga place happiness comes from the inside, not judging yourself against others, so maybe shut off your Strava and just ride your bike. And, or next time you run into Mr. 1 uper please (its almost always a him with a small unit I'd bet) have fun jerking his chain by 1 uping his fablous adventure.
Well we got some of that here in Aspen.
I thought it was pretty exceptional that my daughter had a soccer practice on Friday, drove to Denver for a hockey practice on Saturday, and on Sunday had her birthday party on Aspen mountain at a cabin we rented (ie lots of skiing and stupid shenanigans). Taking a small detour to shenanigan land the kids boot skied all of Aspen mountain (that is skiing without skis--just in boots for those of ya not down with the lingo). Anyhow ski patrol was kind enough to inform us that skiing seems to require skis these days.
anyhow back to the matter at hand
so I was telling a friend about my daughter's soccer, hockey, ski weekend triathlon and they looked at me in all seriousness and asked "what no lacrosse?".
Yup there is always someone doing more, being better etc. Or as the old line goes " there is always someone thinner or richer" (or both) and they probably have a house in Aspen.
Which brings me to a quiz---what should Aspen's motto be
1. Exclusive by design
2. 3 houses or 3 jobs
3. Anything worth doing is worth doing to excess
4. Home of parents who never ever stopped partying (and hope to be in Scarface 2)
Tapping into my calm yoga place happiness comes from the inside, not judging yourself against others, so maybe shut off your Strava and just ride your bike. And, or next time you run into Mr. 1 uper please (its almost always a him with a small unit I'd bet) have fun jerking his chain by 1 uping his fablous adventure.
Thursday, May 9, 2019
The grass is always greener .......
but it usually aint.
Humans are a jealous bunch and we seem to think that everyone else has it better. Most of us think that our families are pretty wacky while everyone else has a pretty normal household. My guess is more families are closer to Malcolm in the Middle than Leave it to Beaver.
I got to see this human condition play out up close and personal this past weekend. I took my daughter to Minnesota to play in a hockey tournament. I assumed that Minnesota hockey would be perfect. Dialed into perfection. Great ice, NHL caliber refs, fantastic scoreboard and time keepers.
Wrong.
Really wrong.
The ice was frequently bad. They had only one person to handle the clock, scoreboard, sports engine, and penalty box. More often than not penalties didn't even make it to the scoreboard, and players had to self release from the penalty box when they thought the penalty was up because of course it wasn't on the scoreboard. And a couple of the refs couldn't even get offsides and icing calls right little less tuffer stuff like boarding or the goalie freezing the puck in the crease. While missed calls are part of the game, when a bunch are missed the game can get dangerous and ugly in a hurry.
Moral of the story---if Minnesota can't get hockey right then no one can. Don't put Minnesota hockey on a pedestal. More generally, don't assume everyone else is living in some magic land where Wally and the Beaver get along and say things like "aw shucks." Be happy with what you got warts and all because everyone has warts some just aren't immediately obvious. Assuming everyone else has it better and that there must be better sports programs, schools, doctors, jobs etc out there is the express lane to being miserable. Enjoy what you got and be thankful.
Humans are a jealous bunch and we seem to think that everyone else has it better. Most of us think that our families are pretty wacky while everyone else has a pretty normal household. My guess is more families are closer to Malcolm in the Middle than Leave it to Beaver.
I got to see this human condition play out up close and personal this past weekend. I took my daughter to Minnesota to play in a hockey tournament. I assumed that Minnesota hockey would be perfect. Dialed into perfection. Great ice, NHL caliber refs, fantastic scoreboard and time keepers.
Wrong.
Really wrong.
The ice was frequently bad. They had only one person to handle the clock, scoreboard, sports engine, and penalty box. More often than not penalties didn't even make it to the scoreboard, and players had to self release from the penalty box when they thought the penalty was up because of course it wasn't on the scoreboard. And a couple of the refs couldn't even get offsides and icing calls right little less tuffer stuff like boarding or the goalie freezing the puck in the crease. While missed calls are part of the game, when a bunch are missed the game can get dangerous and ugly in a hurry.
Moral of the story---if Minnesota can't get hockey right then no one can. Don't put Minnesota hockey on a pedestal. More generally, don't assume everyone else is living in some magic land where Wally and the Beaver get along and say things like "aw shucks." Be happy with what you got warts and all because everyone has warts some just aren't immediately obvious. Assuming everyone else has it better and that there must be better sports programs, schools, doctors, jobs etc out there is the express lane to being miserable. Enjoy what you got and be thankful.
Wednesday, May 8, 2019
public service announcement
lock up your MMJ edibles.
Of course you hear the stories about kids eating their parents gummies, or candy bars and cookies and ya think yea but that aint gonna happen to me and then..............
you dog eats the neighbors weed and has a VERY bad 24 hours (and shares that badness with her family).
What happened? Well the mud room door didn't fully close and the dogs did a bit of a walk about. One of em got into the neighbours stash and ate god knows how much THC, but my dog in general doesn't stop eating till whatever she is eating is gone. And she weighs about 1/3rd of a adult human so assuming she ate 3 or 4 adult doses of space cakes ....well you can do the math.
Next thing you know I got a dog who can't stand, is pissing herself and jerking anytime anything comes near her. The wife freaks out and takes dog to vet who says " we see this a couple time a week, she is stoned". Not much to be done but ride it out--and you can pretty much tell its over when the diarrhea sets in.
So please those of you with edibles in your cars, homes or lunch bags please please please lock it up. I don't want to deal with another stoned pooch (that said my dogs are stupid when it comes to food and always happy to give it another go).
Of course you hear the stories about kids eating their parents gummies, or candy bars and cookies and ya think yea but that aint gonna happen to me and then..............
you dog eats the neighbors weed and has a VERY bad 24 hours (and shares that badness with her family).
What happened? Well the mud room door didn't fully close and the dogs did a bit of a walk about. One of em got into the neighbours stash and ate god knows how much THC, but my dog in general doesn't stop eating till whatever she is eating is gone. And she weighs about 1/3rd of a adult human so assuming she ate 3 or 4 adult doses of space cakes ....well you can do the math.
Next thing you know I got a dog who can't stand, is pissing herself and jerking anytime anything comes near her. The wife freaks out and takes dog to vet who says " we see this a couple time a week, she is stoned". Not much to be done but ride it out--and you can pretty much tell its over when the diarrhea sets in.
So please those of you with edibles in your cars, homes or lunch bags please please please lock it up. I don't want to deal with another stoned pooch (that said my dogs are stupid when it comes to food and always happy to give it another go).
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
loco locals
We just got back from Maui spring break. A couple of similarities between Aspen and Maui leaped out at me immediately. Upon landing after a long long commute we went to the big Safeway supermarket to load up on food because eating at home is supposed to be cheaper, and I am cheap.
Holy smokes food at the big 'cheap' supermarket was about 40% more expensive than Clarke's market in Aspen which is about 50% more than City Market (our discount market). For those of you not good at math, food was double the cost of ASPEN. Ugh. Maui has about 4 times the population of the roaring fork valley but its spread out over 9 times as much space resulting in some really small schools and really long commutes. They do have a Krispy Kreme but if you need a medical specialist you are probably flying to the big Island or more likely the mainland.
Bottom line living in Maui is expensive and kinda a pain in the ass. Why do it? Just like in the roaring fork valley people live here not for the convenience but for the great outdoor recreational opportunities. Want some of the best waves in the world--go to Maui. Wanna hike in rain forest, play in waterfalls and freshwater ponds and enjoy white, black and red sand beaches--go to Maui. Want to hope on your road bike and climb over 10k vertical feet? Maui's got that. Want some great food (and honestly after the trip to Safeway I am starting to think that food is less expensive in restaurants than grocery stores) Maui has you covered.
Just like in Aspen, the folks that move to Maui don't do it for convenience or cost of living--they do it to recreate. That means be very, very careful and respectful of locals offering advice. What seems like a easy surf beach to them might seem crazy to someone who doesn't get in the ocean twice a day every day of the year if possible (blowing away those Aspenites with their 100 ski day pins).
How do you handle the local suggestion to ignore the park ranger and signs that say don't jump into this pool (blindly from 25 feet up)? And you are with your kids who you want to obey laws? In either town the local giving you advice might be pictured in the ski-surf coffee table book in the house you rented. What the loco locals suggest as fun you might find a wee bit frightening.
Bottom line--Aspen and Maui locals have lots of excellent local knowledge, and you should absolutely listen to what they got to say. But also keep in mind what a local sign said at one of the north shore beaches---IF YOU DON'T KNOW, DON'T GO
PS: another example of living in the bubble too long--Aspen Ski co is making a push to draw more visitors -------------------from uphilling, It is a ton a fun and with the new equipment its popularity is EXPLODING with.......... locals. Someone at skico has gone loco local thinking that people from New York and Chicago (ie sea level) are gonna fly to Aspen and rent skinning equipment and skin up mountain. My guess is being the best uphilling resort in the country adds 1% to our out of state visits. Only locals and dirt bags uphill and they don't spend money. Duh.
Holy smokes food at the big 'cheap' supermarket was about 40% more expensive than Clarke's market in Aspen which is about 50% more than City Market (our discount market). For those of you not good at math, food was double the cost of ASPEN. Ugh. Maui has about 4 times the population of the roaring fork valley but its spread out over 9 times as much space resulting in some really small schools and really long commutes. They do have a Krispy Kreme but if you need a medical specialist you are probably flying to the big Island or more likely the mainland.
Bottom line living in Maui is expensive and kinda a pain in the ass. Why do it? Just like in the roaring fork valley people live here not for the convenience but for the great outdoor recreational opportunities. Want some of the best waves in the world--go to Maui. Wanna hike in rain forest, play in waterfalls and freshwater ponds and enjoy white, black and red sand beaches--go to Maui. Want to hope on your road bike and climb over 10k vertical feet? Maui's got that. Want some great food (and honestly after the trip to Safeway I am starting to think that food is less expensive in restaurants than grocery stores) Maui has you covered.
Just like in Aspen, the folks that move to Maui don't do it for convenience or cost of living--they do it to recreate. That means be very, very careful and respectful of locals offering advice. What seems like a easy surf beach to them might seem crazy to someone who doesn't get in the ocean twice a day every day of the year if possible (blowing away those Aspenites with their 100 ski day pins).
How do you handle the local suggestion to ignore the park ranger and signs that say don't jump into this pool (blindly from 25 feet up)? And you are with your kids who you want to obey laws? In either town the local giving you advice might be pictured in the ski-surf coffee table book in the house you rented. What the loco locals suggest as fun you might find a wee bit frightening.
Bottom line--Aspen and Maui locals have lots of excellent local knowledge, and you should absolutely listen to what they got to say. But also keep in mind what a local sign said at one of the north shore beaches---IF YOU DON'T KNOW, DON'T GO
PS: another example of living in the bubble too long--Aspen Ski co is making a push to draw more visitors -------------------from uphilling, It is a ton a fun and with the new equipment its popularity is EXPLODING with.......... locals. Someone at skico has gone loco local thinking that people from New York and Chicago (ie sea level) are gonna fly to Aspen and rent skinning equipment and skin up mountain. My guess is being the best uphilling resort in the country adds 1% to our out of state visits. Only locals and dirt bags uphill and they don't spend money. Duh.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Honey Badger don't give a shit
or
Party Town USA
or
Dumb and Dumberer
Wow this post could have so many great titles but first you need to read the following articles (either one will do but like a car crash you may not be able to turn away)
then we can discuss
bad parents
bad kid
Ohhh kay where to start?????????
Drugs, alcohol, and nicotine are a problem for kids (and adults) everywhere. JUST SAY NO doesn't work. Expecting kids to make smart decisions ain't gonna cut it. Outlawing alcohol was tried and failed. I bet all of my readers did some shit as teenagers. As Forest Gump said 'Shit Happens'. And thank God in the 70s, 80s and 90s there weren't cell phones recording everything and publishing it everywhere for pepritutidity.
But nowhere in my checkered past did I do drugs with parents. I couldn't imagine a situation where a parent would pass me a plate of coke. Nor for that matter a big old spliff (but that might be a little easier to imagine than coke). And pills---no way.
But let's be honest. We all tell our kids not to drink and drive. And then we drink and drive. Maybe it's one drink or maybe its 4 over a couple of hours--but teenagers pick up on hypocrisy and every time you have a cocktail, and a beer and two glasses of wine and then drive the family home your kids note that.
Aspen for sure has a party culture to it---some of the locals came for the party in the 70s and 80s and still want to keep it going. Tourists come from out of town and like to party while they are on vacation. Shoot, Vegas has an ad campaign of "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." and while Aspen has more class than Vegas it channels much of the same energy.
For sure this isn't just an Aspen thing. Kids are drinking and drugging and vaping in every high school bathroom in the USA. If you think they aren't ---well guess again.
I don't think there is a simple answer. The adolescent brain is stupid (not fully developed prefrontal cortex + hormones is a bad combo). Add in cell phones and bad crap gets even badder. Also every town has some stupid parents--hopefully this will end the Lipsey stupidity in this town (although one might have thought doing this to the family Tesla in November might have been enough).
Yea this is the same kid who drove the family Tesla off Maroon Creek Road at 90+ MPH with 5 kids in the car (all are remarkably ok ish ) less than 2 months later are serving up coke Scarface style. Guess this is not a family that can be scared straight or learns a lesson. And then last Thursday at a weird party (it may or may not have been school sanctioned ) is rumored to have been doing lines first in the bathroom and then out in the open. I have been told that Joe the IV is a 'good kid'. Well I don't want my kid anywhere near this kid.
So what do we tell our kids. I am very much open to suggestions but I am starting with:
1. Get the heck away from bad situations. If you see guns, hard drugs (ie not pot or booze), or a party is getting out of hand (property damage, or risky physical activity) leave. Just leave--I don't care how you do it--walk, run. drive, call us as you leave for a ride if you need. Grab your friends or leave em. Whatever is easiest but just leave. Because as the title of this post alludes to --honey badger don't give a shit. Replace honey badger with the law, schools, employers --they aren't going to do a deep dive into exactly who was doing what. If your in the house that was trashed with lots of kids doing drugs and shooting guns you could spend your whole life trying to explain your presence. Just leave.
2. Put the fucking cell phones away. Stop recording all your stupidity and posting it (even on SnapChat). God you kids are so fucking stupid. Pictures often don't tell the whole story, or even the true story, and that is what makes them so dangerous. Do you really want to be telling a prospective employer or college admissions office that it was just flower not coke? Or yea it was coke but you were just pretending and yucking it up. Arg no phones. Employers don't give a shit.
3. Don't do drugs. But if you are going to do drugs in a public place where there are cameras only do it in the bathroom. No video in bathrooms your stupid teenagers. And don't do drugs with parents. Don't accept drugs from parents. Parents that give drugs to kids are creepy and next thing you know will be trying to have sex with you and .........yuck. Lets just say don't do drugs---teenagers with developing prefrontal cortex + hormones are inclined to be stupid enough--adding drugs is a recipe for doing really stupid shit (and one of your stupid shit friends is gonna record it and post it). And the law don't give a shit.
On a lighter note for those of you who have not watched the honey badger video there is a link is below
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