Back from the underground

We have been in lockdown due to COVID-19 for almost three months now. I've been working from home, from the basement, as an underground man. Today it's back to the office.

It's been weird times. I've been working in the basement, with my computer connected to the big TV that we normally use to watch Premier League football. I need two screens to get my work done efficiently. With no football games there hasn't been much  competition for the TV.

There hasn't been many places to go. No traveling at work, no weekend trips around Winterland. Just stay at home, work, eat, go for an evening walk in the almost empty streets. Fortunately the spring was late this year. It’s been good skiing conditions around town almost till the end of May. I’ve been up there cross-country skiing frequently.

The lockdown has had it’s advantages too. For an introvert the situation is quite easy to deal with. And just in case, to avoid infection, we had separate bedrooms. That’s what I have always wanted. Would be great to have it as a permanent solution, I think.

New times are starting today. Noting will be exactly like before, in many ways, I think and hope and fear. 

(Two pictures, taken recently, with only a week between)

VIP zone

I'm at the Alpine Racing World Championship, working as one of the 1400 volunteers. Today was the Super-G race. I worked outdoor in the VIP zone at the race arena. That's where the important people from FIS (the international skiing federation) and the national skiing associations sit, together with their invited guests. Austrian Ski Team, Swiss Ski Team, US Ski Team, Alpine Canada, Audi, Carlsberg ...

The spoiled and well-fed brats get their three-course lunches for free. Ten steps away is the VIP stand with prime view to the finish area. We checked their VIP accreditations, and guided them to their warm and exclusive restaurant.

And we chased ordinary people away.

We told the poor guys to go to the other side of the arena, and line up to buy hot-dogs and burgers. Be happy that we let you watch the race at all. You know, we have to obey Pareto's Law (economics), also known as the Matthew Principle (Matt. 25:29):

"For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the ones who do not have, even what he has will be taken away from him."

That's life. That's how our world works. Like it or not. It's class society.

It was a nice and cold day. From my work area, I had a perfect view to the race.  Very good >:)

(Picture taken today at the race.)

The end of now

The last day of April came with blue sky and a few inches of fresh white snow, from last night's percipitation. I took my rando-skis and went to the top of the mountain. In fact, I was cheating a little bit, since I used the ski lifts as far as I could get, and then walked the rest of the way to the top.

Moving up the slope, step by step, with climbing skins under the skis, just me, alone. It's like time is slowing down. It's a moment for reflection over life, the universe and everything. Maybe diffraction is a better word than reflection. Whatever, by Huygen's principle it's not that much of a difference.

It always feels like time is running slow in the mountains. You can enjoy the moment, the present. Now is the transition between the past and the future. Now ends but always reappears. Now is always moving, and always forward.

The past will never come back. The past was good, and not so good. Anyway, it's nothing I can do about it. The future can still be shaped. Or maybe I canæt do that much about the future either. What happens will happen. Universum decides. I take it as it comes.

And then the skiing season has come to an end, for now. Six months from now, the white gold will be back >:)

(My rando-skis. Picture taken in the mountains today.)

Eat some snow

The spring-winter is here, the best time of the year. Sunny, slushy spring skiing. I was in the mountains skiing last weekend, as usual.

In the lift line I heard a conversation between a little boy and his father:

"Dad, I’m thirsty."

"Eat some snow."

That’s a great advice. But you don’t hear it very often. My father used to say it when I was a kid. I have said the same to my boys.

With plenty of snow around you won’t get dehydrated. Just eat it slowly, to avoid 'brain freeze', as we used to call it when we were kids.

And remember that  old Zappa song: don’t you eat that yellow snow; watch  out where the huskies go >:)

(Picture taken some time ago in the mountains.)

Winter games

I have heard there are some Olympic Winter Games going on. But I haven’t seen it. Apparently, nobody have. The Koreans who are hosting the games aren’t interested, except in short-track speed skating.  In Europe most of the competitions are at inconvenient hours due to the time difference.

So, I’m either sleeping or at work when the ski competitions take place. This week I’m in the mountains for winter vacation. I'm out skiing myself, rather than watching TV. Today was such a great day; sunny and no wind, a perfect day for the outdoors.

Whatever, the Olympics are not that important. The most important sports events are later this year; the Soccer World Cup in June, and the Chess World Championship in November.

In the mean time I have my own winter games. I enjoy the skiing and the great weather in the mountains, and tonight it's Champions League on TV.

There's  not much to complain about, really.  Just missing my best friend.

(I took this picture of myself today. Maybe it's the best part of me, the part which is free, or maybe it's just the shadow of the man I should have been)

Light and dark

Out skiing.
In the light snow.
And the darkness of my soul.
The days are short at this time of the year.
In an hour it's all dark.

(Picture taken in the mountains today)

No country for old men

It's been snowing like crazy for days now. In the forest there's  a foot of powder.  The branches of the birch trees are bending under the weight of the snow.

This morning I joined little boy and his buddy in the off piste.  Little boy moves  like a ballet dancer on his fat skis, zig-zag between the birch poles.  For me it got too technically difficult; too steep and too dense forest. After two runs I was totally exhausted. This was no country for old men.

I took a break, with a cup of coffee and a cold raspberry juice.  Then I went looking for some easier powder, more suitable for an old man like me. Found it and had a good time in the white gold >:)

P'S.  I borrowed the title of the post from the book by Cormac McCarthy.  Great book by the way.

(Picture taken in the birch forest today.)

Twelve inches is one foot

We got a lot of snow last night, and it continued to snow during the day. It's 12 inches now, or one foot.  Maybe it's some kind of magic hidden in the snow, or just a hint about Easter is coming up soon, a reminder about the 12 disciples, and the one and only God, who happens to be three. 

Never mind. Logic reasoning has never been an issue for the priests. Just accept the old humbug. God acts in mysterious ways. Reasoning is the enemy of faith, Martin Luther said >:)

But we're free to make our own choice, and my choice is logic reasoning. Twelve is twelve and one is one.  A foot of snow is always great,  the white gold, powder day tomorrow, when the low clouds and the fog is gone. No friends on powder days, an no gods neither >:)

(It was white-out on the slopes today. I didn't bother to take any pictures because there was nothing to take pictures of. I post an old selfie instead, taken some time ago on a nice sunny day. I just wrote this shit on my cell phone while drinking coffee and waiting for little boy to show up. Sorry about that)

Got snow

Many years ago, when he boys were small, I used to ski a lot in our local ski slope. I took the boys to practice in the ski club after school. in the beginning, I had to ski with them, to help them with the lift, and stuff like that. It was fun, and I learned many things from listening to the coaches. Later, when the boys grew older, they didn't need my help anymore, and I was tired of skiing the same old slopes every week.

The last years, I have done my skiing on the weekends in a much bigger resort. When driving little boy (who is not a little boy anymore) to the ski practice, I just sit in the cafe with my computer, working or reading stuff. But this week, I made an exception. Recently, we have got a lot of snow, the white gold. The conditions on our local slopes are excellent. So this week, I brought my skis, on both the evening practice, and this weekend. It was fun to ski the good slopes again. I did all of them, one after the other. Today I had a great day of skiing together with my best friend. Very good >:)

(Picture taken today, from the patio outside the cafe, in the lunch break)

Another day on fat skis

We have got plenty of snow the last week.  This weekend the snow continues to fall. Today I have another day on the fat skis, in the powder,  off piste.  I listen to an audio book on the lift,  "My Struggle" by Knausgård. I'm almost through the first 5 volumes now.  Very good books. Recommended. 

I'm alone, just by myself.  That's great. I like the loneliness in the sparse  birch forest.  It's not that I dislike people, but I need to spend time alone, to relax and get away from all the expectations. That's what powder days are for >:)

( Picture taken 20 minutes ago. I wrote this post on my cell phone )

Crowded

It's so crowded on the mountain today.  It's the annual ski testing weekend, and the Alpine Racing World Cup is visiting.  Last weekend was much better. We even got a day of powder skiing. Some days are great. Some are not so good. That's life.

(Picture taken in the powder one week ago.  The skier is Little Boy)

A-Z Challenge 05: Easter

Yesterday was Easter Sunday. Easter time means a lot to many people. It means different things to different people.

The Jews have their Passover, celebrating Exodus, the escape from the slavery in Egypt.

The Christians celebrate the resurrection of the man who climbed out of the grave.

In Winterland, Easter is about skiing in the white snow - covered mountains.

We all have our temples >:)

Writing a blog post with cold fingers

I'm sitting on a rock in the mountains, writing my first blog post outdoor and above timberline. I had to search a little bit to find a spot with cellphone signal.

It's such a nice day, in this bowl where you can just ski everywhere. Mountain men (like me) know of course that this beautiful landscape can turn into an inferno when fog and blizzards come in. But today it's just paradise, with blue sky and white snow. 

Its the white gold.

My hands are getting a little bit cold while typing, cold as heaven. Time to get my gloves and my skis on and get back to the offpiste slopes >:)

(Picture taken 10 minutes ago with my cellphone camera. The pictures get a little bit random because it's hard to see the display in the strong sun. But if I take a  lot of pictures, I always get some good ones.)

Summertime in Winterland

There's something about staying up late. I like that, but it sometimes makes me tired the next day.

Yesterday, I had a great day of skiing. It was nice and sunny. It was the kind of spring-winter when you can feel the sun is warming, even above timber  line in the mountains.

I spent last night reading and writing in the cabin, and then chatting with a good friend on Internet, while enjoying a cold beer.

I didn't stay up very late, just about an hour past midnight.  But this was the night we changed the clocks to summer time, and lost one hour. So today I'm a little bit tired.

Time to finish my coffee and get out on the slopes again. Then I will wake up, for sure.

(Picture taken yesterday. Little boy was skiing with a buddy in the snow park, and I was enjoying the company of my shadow while skiing in the high zone )

Gold rush

Yesterday we had a crazy storm coming in from the west, with strong winds and lots of snow. Today the wind had calmed down. It was time for the gold rush.

The white gold; tons of it. Awesome!

Little boy and I took our skis and went out in the mountains. We had a full day of off-piste skiing in the powder. It continued to snow all day. Great. Best day of skiing so far this season.

(Picture taken today. The skier is little boy, and the photographer is me.)

Signed up for the A-Z Challenge

I signed up for the A-Z Challenge again this year. It's gonna be fun. This year I will go for a theme, but not sure which.

Today, I took a day off from work, and went up to the mountains with little boy and a couple of his buddies. The boys are already out skiing in the snow park, jumping on the big jumps.

I'm sitting in the cafe drinking a cup of fairly good coffee (not the best), and reading some work mail. We have another two days of skiing ahead of us, so I think I will skip the skiing today. I will try to get some work done, and think about a theme for the A-Z Challenge.

I should find a theme which is interesting, and doesn't provoke or offend anyone. No, I think I will reduce my ambition. I'll find a theme which is just interesting. There are som nice options in the sub-heading of my blog:

"about science, mathematics, skiing, drumming, black metal, opera, sex, summer, winter, Heaven and Hell"

Science would be a cool theme, with plenty of topics to write about: astronomy, biology, chemistry, dinosaurs, evolution, Feynman, gravity, Hubble ...

Maybe I should go for mathematics, which also has lots of topics: asymptotic analysis, Banach space, complex numbers, divergence theorem, error function, functions, Gauss distribution, Hilbert space ... Might be fun to write about, but maybe interesting to only a few readers.

Opera could be a cool topic, with posts about Aida, Bizet, Carmen, Donizetti, ...

No, I think I go for the last two options: Heaven and Hell, or some variety of it. Just wait and see till April >:)

(Picture taken today, when I sent little boy and his buddies off in the chair lift)

Skimas

Vacation in the mountains. Skiing with the boys. That's nice. There's only one person I'm missing right now.

Christmas. Christ mass. I'm not into the religious part if it. I should call it something else.

Snowmass? No, that's a place in Colorado, close to Aspen. Nice place. I've been there many years ago, when we lived in Colorado

Skimass or Skimas?  That's a nice name for the holidays. I have to check on the Internet if it already exists.

Lunch break is over. Time for a couple of more runs on the slope before its getting dark. Days are short in the north at this time of the year. Sunset at 2pm.

Tomorrow is another day, I believe >:)

(Picture taken today, before lunch. Blogpost written on my cell phone)

Winter solstice

Tomorrow is the darkest day of the year. It’s the winter solstice. We only get about 4-5 hours of daylight. The day after tomorrow we start the the journey towards increasingly longer days. That’s good.

Also, we are approaching Christmas. That’s not so good. I’m not into the religious part of it, and the commercialism just makes me sad. I try to keep it on a very minimum. When I enter the malls with Christmas-pop-music on the loud speakers (Jingle Bell Rock, Santa Claus is Coming to Town) and people running around carrying bags full of stuff, it makes me feel sick.

The only place I feel fairly comfortable is the bookstore. So that’s where I try to do most of my shopping.

It’s been a rush at work as usual. Projects and reports need to be finished before the end of the years. Managers sitting with there Excel spreadsheets counting deliverables, worrying about the KPI’s.

If you don’t know what a KPI is, you’re lucky. KPI means Key Performance Indicator. That’s the measures by which managers can maximize their bonuses, by local optimization in their little pond, and private agendas. At the same time they usually harm the overall interest of the company. But who cares. This is competition. This is the wonderful capitalist world.

Whatever, it’s great with two weeks of vacation, skiing in the mountains.

I hope I get the book by Thomas Piketty for Christmas. If not, I buy it on sale in January.

Happy winter solstice >:)

(Picture from my archives, from a past Christmas, in 2010 or 2011 I think. We have less snow this year, but thanks to efficient snow making system, the skiing is not at risk)

Shopping

This afternoon I did something that I hardly ever do. I went shopping. I bought a Hell of a lot of stuff.

This is what I bought:
o 1pair of shoes (for me)
o 2 pairs of sneakers (for me and little boy)
o 2 pairs of ski pants (for me and little boy)
o 1 pair of goggles (for me)
o 1 jacket (for little boy)

I bought as much in one day as I normally do in one year. It feels like I carry the entire consumer society on my back, alone

That's a heavy load.

Fortunately, I didn't pass by any bookstores >:)

A-Z Challenge reflections

I'm in a hurry right now, so I have to be quick. There's been a lot of things going on recently

This weekend we were up in the mountains for the season finale in the skiing resort. We had a good time on the slopes, as usual. Yesterday we had new and fresh snow and good skiing in the high zone.

Today I attended a full-day research meeting in the university. Tonight I've been out eating dinner and drinking a couple of beers with scientists from all over the world.

Also, I'm in the process of applying for a new job, and I had to write the job application today. So, I had to decide if I should write the job application before the beers and this blog post after the beers or vice versa. I concluded that I should write the job application before the beers, and I think this was a wise decision.

Now, let me turn to the real subject: I enjoyed taking part in the A-Z challenge, and I will probably do it again next year. This was my first time, and I chose to just write about random things, like I do most of the time. Next year I may do some kind of theme. We will see.

That's it. The time is 1 am and I'm going to work tomorrow (or actually later today).

Good night >:)

(I took the picture above on the slopes yesterday. Great day. I'm already looking forward to November, when the resort open for the next skiing season.)