Complicated!

   Life doesn't get simpler as you age if you continue to participate in the digital age.   Many seniors avoid the complications of the digital age by avoiding e-mail, Facebook and the like.  Others of us participate to the fullest extent.   The result is a plethora of ID's, passwords,  user names, and the like.   Since I have a smartphone, an IPad, and three computers that I use at various times I have a multitude of access codes and passwords that I need to remember.   And beyond the digital issue I have to remember the combination to my ski locker!  If ever I pass into the senile state, I surely will be at a loss to remember all that stuff.
   Today I made the effort to consolidate all the information I need to operate all my machines and various sites that I visit.  Remarkably there are about 25 different accesses that I need to keep track of.   I will not be able to remember the various items  that I occasionally use so I will have to have some mechanism for recovering that information.     A Google search shows that there are a couple of ways available to solve this problem.  One is to use a software oriented password manager.  Another is to use a device called myIDkey.   The device will store your password information and make it accessible only through your own fingerprint.  Pretty nifty idea though it markets for about $140.   I guess a complicated digital age life can be somewhat simplified by reducing the information to one simple tool.  So my quest continues.
   As an afterthought; is there a way for me to remember peoples names?  Maybe I need  a gadget that discreetly reads the facial features of people I should remember and display their names on a small screen attached to my glasses!   Perhaps that is the next great invention for those of us that have little facility for remembering names. Life is complicated even beyond the digital age issues.

myIDkey

Making a Statement

  During my morning commute I followed a car with a multitude of stickers on the rear bumper, rear window and hatchback.  This triggered a muse of what kind of statements the driver and owner of the vehicle was trying to make.  Who and what were they wanting to influence?  This thought stayed with me for the day and the thoughts about venues for making a statement expanded beyond the bumper sticker.
   Tattoos are probably an increasingly common way of making a statement in our current environment.   Obviously people want to make a visible sign on their bodies about something that they think is entertaining as art or maybe as a message about who and what they are.  I was somewhat amused as I walked back to my office from lunch when I followed a young student in shorts who had an image of a bear tattooed on the back of each calf of his leg.  Both bears facing out  to the side in profile.   Bear legs and bare legs!  I would like to think he was making the statement he has a wry sense of humor.
  Upon further thought it seems that we all are making a statement of who and what we are through many subtle and not so subtle ways.   The statement may come from the type of car we drive, the fashion of our clothes, our hair style, the home we live in, the people we associate with and the way we worship.    The outward often has something to say about the inward person.   Typically we think of teenagers making statements about themselves by unusual clothing styles and bizarre  social encounters.   Likely this is testing out the acceptable norms for relating to the adult world.   Optimistically this is a learning process that moderates as they become satisfied within themselves that things are okay with them.
   As I relate this muse to the geezer skier community it occurs to me that those of us who wear a geezer skier badge or a 70+ , 80+, or 90+ sticker on our helmet are making a statement that we are cool with being in our senior years.   We are probably saying look at us.  We are happy old guys, pleased to still be on skis!   In conclusion maybe we all have the need to be noticed in some unique way even if we are content with who we have become.

Farewell -2012-13 Season

  Saturday couldn't have been a better day to say farewell to the 2012-13 ski season.   The temperature stayed in the 20's and 30's and the sky was blue and clear.  There was ample snow on almost every slope at Greek Peak.  At least all that were open.   Early morning the surface was firm granular that morphed into great corn snow by the afternoon.  Ladies from the Tri-Cities Ski Club  in their Hawaiian hula skirts and colorful leis graced the slopes in a celebratory manner.
  Only a few geezers were present for the closing day.  Most had made their farewells in the past week and were off to their summer pursuits.   In anticipation of rain the area was not open on Sunday and with the likely rain for this week there is little expectation for a weekend opening.  I heard that there were 108 days of skiing this year.  Any time we get over 100 days is a bonus.
   As I wrapped up my day on Saturday I took a few pictures of the remaining snow on a few slopes and expressed my silent thanks to God, Mother Nature, and my hugely supportive wife, Nancy for the good fortune to be able to ski to my heart's content.  I am indeed grateful in many ways for good health, a great spouse and enjoyable friends.
  With farewell to the slopes, I say hello to the tennis courts.   I am looking forward to another great season of tennis with wife and friends as partners and opponents.   On to the Empire State Senior Games in June!

First Annual Hawaiian Shirt Day

  Geezer Pat Ryan is always coming up with some interesting and outrageous ideas for the geezers.  It must be the Irish in him that makes him so creative.   Yesterday he suggested to us that we should have a Hawaiian Shirt Day today.   The day was to commemorate the arrival of sunshine and Spring skiing.  Pat and I complied with our Hawaiian themed outfits.   And Roger at least came up with a plaid shirt.   That plaid shirt must have come from his Maine roots when he was doing some logging.  I was able to get a Hawaiian shirt from the Salvation Army store since I didn't have one.  The other geezers have an assignment for next year to get their own shirts.

Gerry and Pat 

Pat and Gerry - Great Legs Pat!

Roger and Pat

   Pat and I brought smiles to the faces of almost all of the skiers on the slopes.    The lift attendants and the Greek Peak staff also enjoyed our little escapade.   We only regret that many of the geezers have hung up their skis for the season and are missing these last few days at the hill.   There were semi sad farewells today, since almost all of the geezers are done for the season.   We will be off to our off season pursuits of golf, travel, fishing and tennis.   However, most of us have bought our season passes for next year and we are looking forward to another great season and the Second Annual Hawaiian Shirt Day in the Spring of 2014.
 

April Fool?

  I think Mother Nature must have a sense of humor.   My ski adventure today included rain, snow, wind, ice, and slow going.   All in the course of a few hours.   After a night of rain I didn't expect very good conditions on the slope.   However, the fool that I am I arrived by 9:00 AM in anticipation of the 9:30 AM start up.   Three of us were ready to go as soon as the Ski Patrol started up the lift.  There was one geezer (me) and father with a young daughter.   Bare spots and roughness abounded.  I normally ski my fat board S3's on almost all conditions.   Today this was not the case.   Early morning there was an icy glaze on the surface and the S3's were as squirrelly  a ride you could get.   At the end of one survival run I returned to the locker to get my skinny skis.   The skinny skis worked fine and it was a relief to have a stable ride.  Albeit a rough ride on the ungroomed surface.
   With the completion of the usual six or so runs it was coffee break time.  In the interval of time for my coffee break a great snow shower started.   Within an hour or so we had a significant cover of new snow.  However, the skis did not slide too well on the fresh snow on top of a wet surface.   The morning was rounded out with several runs on the slow but comfortable surface.  I don't think I am
too much of an April fool!   Someone had to represent the geezers for today and I am glad I was up to the task.   Spring skiing?  Yes, by the calendar but perhaps not by Mother Nature's schedule.

A Spring Snow Shower - April 1, 2013