Picto Diary - 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 January 2020 - DV Grooming Gone Wild
Above: Electronic Organ Console. (file image) 12 January 2020.
Organist today at Park City LDS Ward.
I enjoy subbing when their regular organist is unavailable.
Today's hymns:
"Israel, Israel God is Calling."
"Upon the Cross of Calvary."
"Master, The Tempest is Raging."
"Be Thou Humble."
You can fake it on these big, electronic organs. Plenty of stops to render redundant foot or stop moves you'd have to perform on a big pipe organ to achieve the same effect. A modern electronic organ is the functional equivalent of a high performance vehicle with an eleven speed automatic transmission, with safety, warning, parking etc. aids... eg. bells and whistles too numerous to count. Similarly, a pipe organ is like driving a standard transmission (clutch pedal on the floor) performance car. You can get the performance, even better performance, out of the pipe organ or the standard transmission car, but, it takes a ton more skill.
Soon, someone will come up with a an organ with hymns programmed in. Via optics reading technology, the super organ will pick up the signals of the conductor and follow her as she leads the congregational singing. After that, of course, is a robot conductor. Soon, just as no one will know how to drive any car, standard or automatic, no one will be able to play even a dumbed down high tech electronic organ like the one shown here. The likelihood that this assertion will play out is buttressed by the fact that the local ward has to seek out a geezer like me to help out. No young players in the pipeline.
Lingering in my mind is fact that BYU offers organ seminars for organ player wannabees. Meaning, learn to have less reliance on cheating stops and learn to play properly... foot pedals, foot stops yada. I don't rule out looking in to this. After all, as I've been fine tuning my skiing ability over the last twenty years... why not do the same with the organ for... ummm…. uh.... the next twenty years (knock on wood)?
Note: Last night, TIMDT orchestrated a fantastic dinner party at our home. Topics included future of Silicon Valley, housing unaffordability in California, Universal Basic Income, and secret to raising outstanding kids. Best dinner parties nourish the body and the brain with equal intensity. TIMDT pulled this off in spades.
Above:(23) Bishop. Empire Lodge. Backdrop Empire Lift. Deer Valley. 13 January 2020.
Empire Lift from Empire Lodge (reflected in goggle). Powder day. Huff puff. Falling snow throughout the morning.
Pre break skiing with KAT (trying to herd KAT); post break skiing with Snow Bird (enjoying his fluid ski moves from behind).
Breakfast #1 at Wasatch Bagel: 'Cake, PGA, Biscuit, KAT.
Breakfast #2 at Snow Park Lodge: Snow Bird, KAT, Visicalc.
Above: Dupixent. Putative miracle drug, which, as a last resort (when all the steriod creams, and immune system suppressant medications are ineffective), is prescribed for atopic dermatitis... among others. 14 January 2020.
My two year, difficult to diagnose, atopic dermatitis condition is improving... but, very slowly. Doc prescribed this today to knock it out once and for all.
Two injections a month. Medication said to be effective anywhere from one month to six months to end the affliction.
$1900 an injection. (What!!!!????). Self administered. Medicare Part D now pre-authorized for $1200 an injection. Foundations out there who will cover co-pay. I'm looking for them.
File: Getting old in America.
Above: (24) Bishop's Office. Empire Lodge. Deer Valley. 15 January 2020.
Above: (25) Evergreen run. Deer Valley. 16 January 2020.
Images looks ENE to the Jordanelle Reservoir and beyond, towards the corner of Wyoming. Check image. That's a pretty steep drop off!
DV grooming gone wild!!!
Five black runs groomed today...I've never seen this. Skied em all. Magnet 2x.
Evergreen
Orient Express
Stein's Way
Reward
Magnet
My experience of skiing twenty five days at Deer Valley this season has been fabulous.
An abundance of snow, my forty pound weight loss since a year ago, and Deer Valley's great execution are the principle contributors to a great start to the ski season.
Snow: We're over sixty inches of settled base today... well above average. There have been numerous days where three to four inches of Utah powder has fallen over night atop of newly groomed runs... perfect conditions for this geezer.
Weight Loss: Huge difference. Go to the market and lift a forty pound bag of salt. That is how much weight I have lost since last ski season. The difference in my skiing is palpable... mostly discerned by my ability to ski long, steep runs, while making a lot of turns to govern speed, sans stopping from top to bottom. Less weight skiing, at least for me, makes for much better skiing performance. Where last year my ski regimen was made up mostly of medium length, medium pitch blue runs, this year I'm gravitating to the steeper and longer groomed runs of Bald Mountain. Today was a bonanza with an unprecedented four black groomed runs on Bald (see first four on above list).
Deer Valley: From my vantage point they are doing a great job. The grooming is fantastic... and, the experimentation of grooming new, difficult slopes, is a welcome bonanza. The RFID lifts are working great. I applaud the end of the nuisance "don't you know who I am era" where many who elected not to wear their pass on the outside of their clothing were miffed when a liftie asked them to show it. "Don't you know who I am???!!!). Lift operators on the new RFID lifts seem well trained and are always pleasant. "Hello, Mr. Taylor," they say as I pass, verifying that the holder of the pass... Mwah (sic)… is the right one. Elsewhere, service has been friendly and effective. Jose and his team, who cook my eggs in the morning are the best. The parking guys, the cashiers at Snow Park and Empire, the ski locker team have been equally effective, showing that Deer Valley's vaunted service ethic holds fast.
You hear some "first world" grumbles... especially from locals. Prices for food is up. The menu has changed... can't get eggs benedict anymore. The point of sale terminals seem to have not had much user input as people at the register have to punch a lot of buttons in for seemingly simple transactions. A lot of Ikon pass holders are brown bagging in Deer Valley's "exclusive" lodges. Does this affect the brand? Would you take a sandwich into the lobby of the Ritz Carlton, spread out a paper bag, and eat it on one of the lobby sofas? I admit to being amused the other day at Empire Lodge where there was a family of five at a table noshing a big bag of "Goldfish." Also, supposedly new management is letting more people on the mountain before ticket sales stop (Notwithstanding, I've been able to park, start early and work my way around the mountain pretty well notwithstanding large crowds. The crowds pay the bills. I understand the challenge for Deer Valley management to increase the bottom line. They need to walk the fine line of retaining, even building, the strength of the brand while, at the same time, maximizing return. So far, I think they're doing OK.
All this doesn't mean that I'll continue to feel this way. There are rumors that we'll have to pay for parking... that certain parking lots we've long been used to using will be restricted yada. I'll have to wait and see. But, so far, Deer Valley.... keep doing what your doing!
Addendum:
Very interesting, I just finished the book and felt it was probably one of the worst and at times it felt like I was reading a comedy , I enjoy LT Ryan; is far superior and his lead character Jake or when Bear is involved ; I enjoy even more. Z3
Glad to hear that you and Dr. G are enjoying life🏍 Don’t let the Old Man In ! Just returned from Costa Rica; The country continues to improve 😎
Mr. Z3,
Oxnard, CA
I thought this was his poorest book. Maybe the character is getting a little stale. Or, I am. I’ll keep reading because he’s the modern day lone ranger, albeit without his faithful Indian companion.
Dentist,
Park City, UT