Some of you have been looking for updates to this page. Well here goes….
Skiing was fun. No one got seriously hurt. A guy in our group got a split lip which required a stitch when his snowboard flew up onto his mouth. Snow conditions were better than expected. It was relatively soft during the day; a bit icy at night. Crowds were not too bad, especially at night.
I didn’t do any of the jumps at Jurassic Park black diamond like I did last year. Instead I tried to concentrate on skiing right. Previously I had been skiing using the snowplow method. Now it’s time to move up a level and ski with s-curves. It’s difficult to learn this way since the courses are so crowded. There is talk about having an adults only church ski trip to Snowshoe, West Virginia, a 10 hour drive. Maybe it will happen….
I had one incident which is worth telling about. At Paoli, they have a small cafeteria where you can get fast food. They have self serve fountain drinks. During suppertime I went up and got a Sprite. As the Sprite filled up, I swallowed a few gulps and then refilled the drink to the rim. I’d say that I drank about 1/3rd of the glass at the very most. When I went up to pay, one of the female workers said to me that she saw that I had filled up my cup and drank from it and got a refill. I said that it was just some sips. She said “No it was a big gulp.” I politely asked if I needed to buy 2 drinks. She said that she would let it slide for now. It was a bit ridiculous. I don’t know if I have ever met someone that picky. Soft drinks will cost you about $1.50 at Paoli, who have a monopoly on the food market at the top of the mountain. Surely she must have been joking with me; however I can’t imagine someone even asking such a ridiculous question, even if they were joking.
New pics from this weekend are up at Photo of the Moment. Story explains it all.

I decided to compile a list of times that I had been skiing. Here goes:

1. February 6 – 7, 1993; Paoli with Mt. Juliet church of Christ
2. February 4, 1995; Paoli with Lipscomb group. Midnight skiing….drive up, ski all night; then drive back. I’ll never do that again.
3. December 28, 1995; Paoli with Scottsville church of Christ
4. December 26, 1996; Paoli with Scottsville church of Christ
5. February 14 – 16, 1997; Appalachian Ski Mountain, NC, with Mt. Juliet church of Christ; later on that night I skied at Sugar Mountain
6. February 20 – 22, 1998; Sugar Mountain, NC, with Mt. Juliet church of Christ
7. January 29 – 31, 2000; Paoli with Mt. Juliet church of Christ
8. December 22, 2000; Paoli with Scottsville church of Christ. Great ski conditions. A bit cold, though.
9. February 17 – 19, 2001; Paoli with Mt. Juliet church of Christ

You know it is really scary that I actually kept up with all of this. It’s not much. But it is more skiing than the average southerner.

I was right. There was no snow around here yesterday. Apparently Cookeville and other areas east of Nashville got most of the limited amount of snow. I have to wonder about those school kids in Fentress and Pickett Counties in northeastern Middle Tennessee. Anytime there is an inch of snow, their schools get closed for an entire week…sometimes longer. After a few good snows, the entire county shuts down. I’d imagine these kids don’t get out of school until mid July usually.
We had out meeting about the ski trip last night after church. Basically what could have been said in 2 minutes took 20 minutes to go over and over. It included what to wear, how much money to take, where we’d be staying….etc. We had about half a dozen first time skiers, but the majority of these people have been before. Some decided to go, even though they are not skiing. I’m of the opinion that any teenager who decides not to go skiing, yet just wants to go in order to “hang out” at the lodge, should not be allowed to go. They will just be taking up space and we’ll have to have extra cars to drive up just so we can haul them around. Pay attention: THIS IS A SKI TRIP. If you are not skiing, then you should stay home. Apparently they have some extra money laying around….$50 to just drive up to middle of Nowheresville, Indiana, and sit around a ski lodge all day.
While on the ski trip this weekend, I’m going to earnestly make my pitch for a different location next season. Paoli is definitely getting old and useless. Here are the arguments in regards to staying with Paoli:

• Paoli is small enough to keep up with skiers.
• Paoli is easier for first time skiers.
• Less driving time to Paoli
• With North Carolina you have to pay a non-refundable hotel fee.

I’d like to counter these arguments in regards to going to North Carolina:

• There are smaller ski resorts in North Carolina….such as Appalachian Ski Mountain which are comparable to Paoli. Let the first time skiers go there, while the experts go to Ski Sugar or Ski Beech. Or go to a big resort and tell the first timers to stay in one area.
• Again let the first time skiers go to a smaller resort. However if skiers cannot learn to read signs that say “This lift goes to a black diamond” then they probably should not be skiing in the first place….or operating heavy machinery.
• Driving time to Paoli vs. North Carolina is irrelevant. It is just 94 minutes longer to Boone, NC, verse Paoli. Boone is just 1 hour 4 minutes longer than French Lick, IN, which is where we stay usually.
• Apparently our organizers got burned by one particular hotel in North Carolina last time we went and don’t want to go back. Keep in mind this is JUST ONE HOTEL. There are plenty of places to choose from in NC.

Ok I will get off of my soapbox about why Paoli is just inadequate for skiing. I guess what bugs me the most is that the planners of the ski trip are just unwilling to even consider another destination. We’ll see how things go after I make my pitch…..

The snow watch is on in Indiana…..but there aint no snow. According to the Ski Peaks webpage the current conditions are bad:

CURRENT Snow Report at Paoli Peaks
Anticipated OPENING DATE: December 24 – 27, 2001
Operating Hours: ~Cold weather is very slow in arriving, but the good news is that it will be cold once it’s here right around christmas. We’ll see you on the slopes soon.
Snow Base: ~
Snow Surface: ~
Trails Open: ~
Lifts Operating: ~

This is doublespeak for there aint no snow, and don’t hold your breath for more snow. We (the church group) are tentatively scheduling our ski trip on Jan. 11-13….only 3 weeks away. Definitely not a long enough time for a good base.
I hate Paoli. It is one of those places that is good to learn to ski at, but really is too small for the intermediate skier. Our group organizers absolutely refuse to even consider North Carolina as an alternate destination. Paoli is such a hit and miss for snow. You have to time it just right for snow, or else you could be miserable with 50 degrees and rain.

Went to Bellacino’s for lunch today. Their pizza is good. I did notice that the kids who work there must be barely out of middle school. I know that the high school has a CO-OP program which might explain what these kids were doing out of school during the middle of the day.
As I was driving back from Scottsville last night, I listened to “Kenny Rogers’ ‘The Gambler'”, and “Elvis’ ‘Viva Las Vegas.'” It occured to me that I had never been to Las Vegas. I had been to Reno before on a business trip. But this was small town in comparison to Vegas. In response to that here are the top ten places which I’d like to visit (in no particular order).

• Las Vegas (for the same reason people tend to watch car crashes)
• Hong Kong….I’ve been to China two times but I’ve never been to what is considered to be the Paris of the East.
• Hawaii
• New York City….to see Letterman before he retires
• Los Angeles….to see Bob Barker before he retires from “The Price is Right”
• The Grand Canyon
• The Rocky Mountains
• Central America…on a mission trip with my church
• Canada
• Europe…most likely Britain and/or Paris

Christmas card season is here. Everyone sooner or later faces this quandry. Do you send someone a Christmas card just because you got a Christmas card from them? For me, the problem is not difficult. In most cases I don’t bother. I have a standard list from which I send out which evolves year after year. I certainly don’t expect a card from anyone on my list.

It’s 4:45 in the morning. I think the time stamp at the bottom of the logs are off by 2 hours because the server is set to Pacific time. I’ll be leaving for San Antonio in a little over and hour and a half. I’m meeting a college friend of mine. We’re planning on visiting the Alamo and the Riverwalk among other things. I’ve been planning the trip for a little over a month. More will be posted when I get back.