A very sad thing happened today. I just heard on the news that Dave Irwin, a guy that I was skiing with yesterday, fell during a training run at Sunshine and is now in a coma. Dave was invited as a special celebrity (he was a World Cup winner in 1974, and one of the original Crazy Canucks) on our schmoozefest skiing trip. He took a group of the better skiers on a few runs in the morning, and gave us some pointers on how we could improve our technique. He made sure to connect with each one of the members of the group, sharing a joke, tellng us a story or two about being on the circuit and asking about us and what we enjoyed in our lives. He seems like a genuinely nice guy. Now, he's laying in a Calgary hospital in a coma, fighting for his life.

I hope he's OK.

--------------

Well, I'm back from a big schmooze-fest, courtesy of our internet service provider. I have to admit, it was nice being treated so well. I had a really nice breakfast, went skiing on some fun and challenging runs, had a great hot lunch, finished up skiing, had a hot shower, an *excellent* meal and a couple doubles of Grand Marnier, and was then whisked back to Calgary (watching a movie on the way) to where my car waited for me in a heated garage. All I had to do was to put up with a bit of forced banter, some hockey and golf talk, and spend a five figure sum (per month) on connectivity. I'm glad these guys offer the best service, bar none, otherwise I'd feel guilty. The day was totally relaxing, fun and refreshing, even though my legs feel pretty weak. The race part was interesting, as I found myself getting quite competitive ... again. I guess that competing is more important to me than I care to admit - even to myself. I enjoyed racing immensely.


Part of my day was spent in a peaceful, silent, grateful sit in the snow on a deserted run on the back part of the mountain. It was quite a ways up. I took off my skis, waded into the trees to a spot that had the most gorgeous view of the Bow Valley Parkway and surrounding mountains, and remembered what a beautiful place I live in. I sat there in my form-fitted spot in the snow until my bum got too cold, jumped on my skis and had a great run in (it was the last run). What a nice way to end a day.

I really don't think people take the time to step out of their busy, hectic days and do this enough, except for one group - smokers. Smokers have the traditional smoke break, in which they get out of their routines, head out to the loading dock (in the case of our office) and ponder life, gossip, and just generally break up the general daily grind. This happens (I'm assuming) 4 -6 times a day. What a great idea. It's almost as good as afternoon naps. Maybe a nicotine addiction is just God's way of keeping you from working too damn hard.