Monthly Archives: April 2022

another ski day

Interesting article.  I think the fundamental problem is that there are a tiny number of seats available in Ivy League schools.  These seats are lifechanging for those who secure them – or at least for anyone who is not wealthy and well-connected to start, which is the vast majority of Americans.  But there are so few seats, I can’t think of any fair way to allocate them.  Perhaps the solution is to increase the class sizes by a factor of ten.  The problem would still exist, but it would be mitigated somewhat.  But the article isn’t all about college admissions – just reflections from a writer, who won me over from the start.

We lost our internet on Sunday and regained it last night (Wednesday).  Yes, I can confirm that I’m an internet addict.  I still had my phone, but with limited data, and furthermore, I despise interacting with the interwebs through my phone.  I can type about as fast as I talk conversationally, and it’s so easy for me to navigate and communicate with the world through typing.  Swyping is excruciating by comparison, not to mention the tiny screen, lack of ad blocker, lack of right mouse button, etc., etc., etc.

The mountains got two feet of snow on Monday and a few more inches Tuesday so I played hookey yet again and went skiing.  It was wonderful.  When I got there I felt frustrated because I felt uncomfortable on my skis because the snow was so different after going out on slush the last few times, but I got used to it, and it was much better.  One thing I’ve really been enjoying is using Strava to track my skiing.  It’s not so much that I want to know how fast I went, though that is interesting.  Beyond that, it’s simply interesting to have a record of when I went skiing, to which resort and which runs I did.

You can see the Crystal map here.

I skied mostly blue runs and added a new blue run to my repertoire.  I also skied a blue run on my last visit to Summit at Snoqualmie.  I’m gradually feeling more and more comfortable with the blues, and the greens feel increasingly easy, even the steep green (Queen’s Run) that I used to find terrifying.  Progress is slow, but it is happening.  My goal for next year will be to be able to ski all the blue runs at Crystal.

I hit 27 mph, which I found interesting because it’s about my max speed cycling as well.  (I have gone faster while cycling but I prefer to stay at about 25 mph or slower for safety reasons.  K = 1/2mv^2 and all that.)  I actually think skiing and cycling have a lot in common, the major difference of course being that you have to cycle up the hills instead of just riding the lift.

My goal for next year will be to be comfortable on Lucky Shot, a blue run from the top of the mountain known to be a “hard blue.”  Right now, I feel like I’d risk breaking my neck if I attempted it.  Skiing is likely done for this year, but I can’t wait to do it all again next year.

vacation dreams and reality

We are heading to the Oregon coast next week.  This is noteworthy because one of the many impacts of the draconian Covid reign of terror imposed by WA state, the CDC and our local school was that we couldn’t leave the state during the school year without quarantining afterwards.  We don’t usually go to Oregon during the summer because a nice house on the coast will easily run you $1000+, though we made an exception during my pregnancy with S.  So, we haven’t been down to OR since summer 2019, and while that was a wonderful trip, it’s just not the same when I’m not feeling 100% due to pregnancy.  I’m really excited to go back again finally and feeling great.

Now that S is 2, we’re planning to be a bit more adventurous and drive a bit further, so we’re heading all the way down to Waldport.  It’s a 5.5 hour drive, and I’m cautiously optimistic that S will handle it well.  I guess we’ll see!

In other news, I’m kind of going vacation crazy, at least in my head.  Part of this is due to the lifting of Covid restrictions, and part is due to the fact that I’m going back to work, so we have more money to travel with.  After the spring break trip, our next excursion will be spending August on Smith Mountain Lake.  It’s possible that it will be very, very hot, but for now, I’m pretty excited about that.

H and I are talking about a ski vacation next February.  We’ve been on one ski vacation, to Whistler before the kids were born.  This time, our requirements are as follows:

  • All-day ski lessons or childcare available for 3 year olds
  • Lots of green runs available on the mountain
  • Direct flight from SEA + < 2 hours of driving, or 1 stop with <1 hour of driving
  • Base altitude no higher than ~8000 ft so we don’t get altitude sickness

So far, this seems to leave Northstar (Tahoe), Aspen Snowmass / Buttermilk, Park City (daycare only, no ski lessons for 3 year olds), Steamboat, Beaver Creek, and Whistler.  We’re not that excited about Tahoe, and we don’t really want to go back to Whistler.  Any recommendations?

Last but not least, we’ve always planned to take a trip to France in the spring of Isla’s 5th grade year.  Normally, the school takes a field trip with the 5th graders to Normandy and Paris, but they have already indicated this will be canceled for the fourth year in a row next year.  I see no reason to let that stop us.  Furthermore, Isla’s best friend and her wonderful family are moving back to Paris.  Therefore, we’re talking about a 2 week vacation in late June to Paris and the French Alps.  This is a very long way from reality, but thinking about it brings me great joy.  For now, though, we’ll just try to survive our 5.5 hour drive to Waldport.