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Waterfall said:
Sorry to hear you lost another friend. Do you usually go to the funeral or is it mostly close family?
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I haven't gone to funerals. The woman who died in June died in Ontario. The woman who died in September either didn't have a service or just had a private service. I'll see what happens with this one.

There was a woman I met in the local generic group. When I met her five years ago she was allegedly on death's door. She had stage IV ovarian cancer which usually kills quickly. She died last year not long before Christmas. She had gone to Newfoundland for her 50th nursing school anniversary in August and then turned 70 a month or two later. She was like the Energize bunny and loved her bling. Her funeral was a couple weeks ago. I would have attended if I hadn't had a previously made appointment. I'm really glad I met her because she taught me stage IV is no longer an immediate death sentence.
 
It's been a lazy day for me as both of my 1:1 morning EFL classes (in Hwaseong) cancelled. They're both going on business trips next week and needed today to prepare.

I teach afternoons Monday to Thursday in Yongin, but today's Friday.

I usually use Fridays for completing my Children's Sermon, but Children's Worship has been cancelled for this coming Sunday.

So, I've really overslept. I woke up today at around 11am and it's now 11:16am. I really gotta' get up because I still have work to do.

I must keep working on my Adults' Sermon. This week, it's on hospitality. Also, at 8pm, I teach a 1:1 EFL class using Zoom to a student who's in Seoul
 
Good morning! For the passing of a friend, (even if expected, it still comes as a jolt), support groups of several kinds, taking walks outside in the colours, for all the other things that come up, we gather round the Coffee Cart, for conversation and support, and for coffee, tea, and bagels with various toppings. The coffee is fresh brewed, tea water boiling, and bagels warm from the toaster. Come in, have a mug or cup, and join the conversations! All are welcome.

C(_)/ c(_) c\_/ c[_]
 
Heading up to the ski club this weekend. Need to cut down some trees and branches and will make firewood out of what we can. There's a meeting to attend and things to vote on (not even sure what this year, but snowmaking is in there I bet). Claire will see her ski cross head coach and they will discuss the upcoming season.

I've officially put my hat in the ring to coach again myself. I want to meet with the racing head coach to discuss in person what I need to brush up on to coach the U16 team this year or next. Those are 14 and 15-year olds. The clever among you will recognize that Carter would have turned 14 this year. Part of me really wants to be a small part of their ski racing lives and see what Carter's friends would have been like. It doesn't hurt that I can still kick their asses on a course and can teach them how to change that. The beauty of coaching kids this age in what amounts to "rec league" racing is that no one cares if they think I'm not using proper coaching techniques or words, because they're already washed out of the national team path so parents and head coaches care a little less about what the coaches are teaching them, and they often get stuck with bad coaches. I explain the technique differently. I was a mediocre racer as a kid but I loved it and kept at it and figured it out as I was getting an engineering degree and started to understand forces and acceleration on a deeper level.

But mostly, I'm not a boring coach. The world is full of boring coaches with rods up their bottoms who make sport un-fun, coaching using buzzwords they can't even explain, like "Separation!". I had to explain that to her. And no hot chocolate in the clubhouse? For 8-year-olds? They just stuck it out in -15C for an hour for you and they can't have a little warm sugar water because simple carbs? My daughter had those coaches for half her years and they wouldn't let me coach her because parents weren't allowed to coach their kids. That changed after I stopped asking. Together, every March after the racing was over, we would work together. Not a lot, just some light feedback and leading her down the hill to imprint a bit. That's why she can ski like a dream and coach today. She skis way prettier than me now, like she's floating over the surface, leaving pencil lines behind.

So this weekend is about trying to impress the head coach with what I know and seeing how desperate he is for bodies. It's hard to find coaches, and that works in my favour. Other coaches ask for weekends off I understand, and they can get it because the clubs have no choice. I'm insisting I coach every session because once they're my team, they're MY team. Hands off. If anyone is going to screw them up, it's gonna be me.
 
chansen said:
Heading up to the ski club this weekend. Need to cut down some trees and branches and will make firewood out of what we can. There's a meeting to attend and things to vote on (not even sure what this year, but snowmaking is in there I bet). Claire will see her ski cross head coach and they will discuss the upcoming season.

I've officially put my hat in the ring to coach again myself. I want to meet with the racing head coach to discuss in person what I need to brush up on to coach the U16 team this year or next. Those are 14 and 15-year olds. The clever among you will recognize that Carter would have turned 14 this year. Part of me really wants to be a small part of their ski racing lives and see what Carter's friends would have been like. It doesn't hurt that I can still kick their asses on a course and can teach them how to change that. The beauty of coaching kids this age in what amounts to "rec league" racing is that no one cares if they think I'm not using proper coaching techniques or words, because they're already washed out of the national team path so parents and head coaches care a little less about what the coaches are teaching them, and they often get stuck with bad coaches. I explain the technique differently. I was a mediocre racer as a kid but I loved it and kept at it and figured it out as I was getting an engineering degree and started to understand forces and acceleration on a deeper level.

But mostly, I'm not a boring coach. The world is full of boring coaches with rods up their bottoms who make sport un-fun, coaching using buzzwords they can't even explain, like "Separation!". I had to explain that to her. And no hot chocolate in the clubhouse? For 8-year-olds? They just stuck it out in -15C for an hour for you and they can't have a little warm sugar water because simple carbs? My daughter had those coaches for half her years and they wouldn't let me coach her because parents weren't allowed to coach their kids. That changed after I stopped asking. Together, every March after the racing was over, we would work together. Not a lot, just some light feedback and leading her down the hill to imprint a bit. That's why she can ski like a dream and coach today. She skis way prettier than me now, like she's floating over the surface, leaving pencil lines behind.

So this weekend is about trying to impress the head coach with what I know and seeing how desperate he is for bodies. It's hard to find coaches, and that works in my favour. Other coaches ask for weekends off I understand, and they can get it because the clubs have no choice. I'm insisting I coach every session because once they're my team, they're MY team. Hands off. If anyone is going to screw them up, it's gonna be me.
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The kids will be lucky to have you!
 
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I don't usually do this as i tend do adapt if things go awry. There is though a limit to how many storms one can handle.

My analyst and I have been in a tsunami of work in our contract.

We keep thinking, aah we now see the waves coming, when another storm blows through.
Yesterday told that our project manager is leaving. More disruption.

My sewing is suffering, along with a bunch of other stuff.

The reason this fits the opening quote each of the storms occurred last year and the year before.

High churn with good resources and shitty resources stay too long.

Will be interesting when i submit my hours
 
paradox3 said:
Not hard to imagine @chansen being a great coach, is it?
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I guess it is when I haven't officially coached since '99. I can tell the head coach is hesitant. He doesn't know about Carter, and I'm not going to tell him anything except that I did coach that age group in 98 and 99. I've literally been out of the game for 25 years, but I raced on the Ontario adult circuit for 12 years, where I was beating most of the guys who went further in ski racing than I did. Some made the provincial team.

And I do think there is something of value in learning from those for whom a skill they acquired did not come naturally. Some very accomplished racers coached my daughter, but they couldn't explain what they wanted. I think that's because they could just always do it and didn't even know how they did it - never mind explain it to someone else. So when I told my daughter that there are effectively two kinds of "separation" (upper vs lower body and where skis are pointing vs shoulders) she was blown away. We are both very literal, and we were both mediocre as kids, so I know what it's like. We experimented with those things that March, and her skiing took off. The next year, she medaled in the ski cross provincials, leading to the coaching job. It's hilarious how one 3rd place medal makes you an expert in a sport when it's brand new.

Edit: And just give credit where it was due - those coaches were right. At the time, she lacked "separation", but they could not explain it. What's the point of yelling a word at a kid if you can't or won't explain what you mean and how to achieve it?
 
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Good morning. I finally finished the book. It was Beloved by Toni Morrison. I enjoyed it. At the same time, the writing style and story required brain cells to follow. I'm glad I persevered. I'm returning the book today.....three days past the due date. :)

The park had a BBQ to welcome the winter community back to the park. It's always a good event. The weather was perfect. Well a little cool, but we can deal. :)
 
Nancy said:
I admire anyone who is good at sports. My one attempt at skiing was a disaster. Now I’m too old to give it a go.
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My folks don't ski anymore. My dad would but his ankle won't let him. He's 84.

I was getting some new skis set up in the shop and they always ask how aggressive a skier you are to determine binding settings. The guy in front of me said he was in his 50s and is anyone over 50 aggressive? I put my hand up.

This is one of those privileged sports - I think it only trails polo and auto racing for how damn expensive it can be to compete at a high level. On top of that we're at this weird private club setting that only happens in Ontario for some reason. When we joined in the 70s, it was all middle class people. Now it seems like it's all executives and owners of companies. What my folks did in the 80s was buy a lot and build their own cottage. That's how we're still there. Rentals are through the roof. The membership cost is insane. I can mitigate that by coaching which gives me a discount on that fee, but not as big as you'd expect.

The teenagers often complete the volunteer hours toward their high school diploma by teaching little ones how to ski, so yes, parents are literally paying (and can afford to pay) the club, just for unpaid teens to teach their toddlers. I wouldn't let Claire do that and I dont think she would do that. Instead of 40 hours at her own private club teaching kids, she'll have 100ish hours mentoring children who have lost siblings. Also looks a tad better on a university application, but mostly she's really enjoying the experience and goving back. The other volunteers may be psychologists and EMS workers, but she's the only volunteer who has lost a sibling and that gets her some street cred in the eyes of the kids, so this group really looks up to her. They aren't good with ages, though. When asked, one of the kids guessed she was 40 years old. Ouch.
 
Redbaron said:
I think the standard answer to a question like that is "39, with a few months' experience."
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You have to be careful about that if you're a parent of saucy kids. My mother was always 29. One year we put her photo in the paper with the caption "Happy 29th birthday from your 28, 25 and 22 year old kids". Her photo ended up in the paper another year with "Happy 31st anniversary of your 29th birthday". She loved it.
 
Northwind said:
You have to be careful about that if you're a parent of saucy kids. My mother was always 29. One year we put her photo in the paper with the caption "Happy 29th birthday from your 28, 25 and 22 year old kids". Her photo ended up in the paper another year with "Happy 31st anniversary of your 29th birthday". She loved it.
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Love it!
 
Groucho Marx hosted the early game show, "You Bet Your Life!"

As you would do to this day, Groucho would converse briefly with each contestant. Back then, you could ask a lady's age (or maybe Groucho did because he was Groucho).

Her Response? "I'm approaching 40."

Groucho: "From which direction?"
 
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