Reflection on 2012

It is important to live in "now" at our present time, and it is also important to look to the future, but I have found that there is importance in our past as well, that can help us to realize how much we accomplished.
As we are in the last day of 2012, I wanted to reflect on it, and describe it from my point of view. I also wanted to share bits of our life with our friends.

January
The year started great with a New Year celebration but continued with a bit of discomfort as I injured my right foot while playing tennis on January 1st. That was a bummer as I was planning doing a "Fat Ass" run, first time since 2006 - I was in a good shape but broke one of my 'rules', "not to play indoor tennis", and paid the price.

Ada went to Asia and I was on my own almost for a whole month - work at Enbridge was a bit extensive, but I managed to ski a lot, as my foot was fine in ski boots. I went to Mont. Tremblant, Quebec, to our annual "Hot Tub Time Machine" winter trip where I had great time with my friends Vaneja, Tijana and Sladjana. Gyula took me out for my birthday and we had great time. We proved that "old boys" can still have good time out.

February
Ada came back from her trip just before Family Day that we traditionally spent on the mountains. This time, my biggest archival and Nemesis, Bond (Reid), James Bond (David Reid) joined us with his family.

Weather was extremely warm and there was no need for thick clothes. Mt.Norquay Tea House was open first time in who knows how many years and we were delighted to have a tea high up above Bow Valley.

March
Thirty One days of March were extensive and emotional. I skied a lot, and conditions were the best in last 15 years - met with some former coworkers on the slopes and had great time. As every year, I did 'St.Patrick's Day 10 K' race, and placed well, but my time was not satisfactory. Well, it was icy...
We got the new upgraded version of our hybrid car, and we continued to spread the word about sustainment and awareness. That's quite a challenge to do in the 'Oil Country'!

As I was now working in Oil & Gas industry I was learning about futility to regulate it and to govern it effectively. For the "boys", 2 + 2 will always be 5.
At the and of March we always celebrate Ada's birthday, but this year our focus shifted to very sad and unimaginable event. Our friend Miklós "Miki" suddenly passed away and all of that left us in disbelief. It was very shocking and took a long time to accept it. I created a short video to celebrate Miki's life.

April
The record snow falls blanketed mountains and that gave us ability to ski everywhere, and when I say 'everywhere', it really means everywhere. No rocks were visible. We celebrated Easter with Justin and Zharlene who were preparing for their wedding.

I completed my 'Advanced Speaker Bronze' designation at the end of month and that gave me much needed boost to continue working on a leadership stream. Ada started looking for a new job, as she felt that her current environment became smaller and that it was right time to use her newly acquired MBA credentials.
Good thing was that majority of the snow only hit the mountains - the city was not hit that hard, and X-Country running racing started on clear trails. It was another beginning of 'mud, sweat and tears' running season.
I didn't run in January at all, but managed to get back to it in subsequent months. I felt strong and averaged 13 runs per month.

May
May is supposed to be warm and full of flowers and green leaves, but not at this part of the world. The snow continued falling and all the records were broken. We certainly used these superb conditions to enjoy 'spring' skiing. We were also wondering what will happen with a wild life as the snow line was so high, and would remain high throughout summer. In May, we also hosted an Open House at my tennis club, but this year I was absent as I chose skiing instead.

Our life is centered around outdoors and nature and we don't spend much time in closed areas, 'hanging out',  or doing things that we did in the past (read 'drinking', 'fooling around'). Sometimes I think I am old. However, we still go to see great artists when they chose to come to the place from which you can see the end of the world. We went to see Roger Waters's "The Wall", and our company were great Scott McPherson and his best friend Cathy. There is nothing much to say about the show as everything has been said. The best thing is to see and feel it on your own.

I did 'Mother's Day' race that I always do as it gives me an opportunity to raise money for a good cause. It was probably funny to see my face when I crossed the finish line as I was disgusted with my time. After the race I found out that the actual course was 1 K longer. I also did a 1 mile race and that was quite a different experience. I did a race that short probably more than 25 years ago, and it was quite challenging to keep up with younger competitors ( I really didn't keep up that well  :)).

June
Our wait for summer solstice started with great floods that were not much fun. It made us prolong our whitewater rafting trips for at least a month. This was such a neat example of nature's power.
I also started playing outdoors tennis and that is always exciting as I don't play the game during winter. It is exciting because we all get together and have our special mixed doubles 'specials' on a weekly basis. This continued late into October.
I even joined a singles box league and got badly beaten by couple of of guys, but for worse, I fell awkwardly on Garneau Clay and injured my left hip. This meant that I wasn't able to run again for at least 4 weeks, and it also meant that I had to visit my friend Blair at Glen Sather clinic. Good thing was that there was no major damage.

June is a month in which I usually stop doing bikram yoga for summer. It is just too nice out to spend time inside. This year I was very dedicated as I went every week at least once.
The most exciting event of June 2012 was Ada's graduation from UofA's MBA program. I was happy that she was proud on her achievement. I was part of the all process and I saw how much time, work and effort she invested in it.
We went once more to Golden, but as I said rafting was not possible. However, we still had great time with our friends Josephine and Luke.

July
July was a busy month. We traveled to opposite sides on Canadian coast, experienced Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and most of all we enjoyed great food and wine. While being there, for the moment I caught myself thinking about living there. Well, that lasted for very short time as rainy days reminded me why we lived in Alberta.
Day after Canada Day we were honoured to be at Justine and Zharlene's wedding at Kurimoto Japanese Garden. It was a beautiful day in which these two beautiful people bonded forever.

This July I also (tried to) play(ed) "Beach Tennis", and I must say that Beach Tennis was so much fun that I am already looking forward to more of it in 2013. I teamed up with my friend Hone for this event.
I also played AM tennis with a very experienced old timer Peter Kaszor. It was funny when he would say:"I only wanted to win one game!", after winning that "one"game. Then, it was up to me to win my game. Nevertheless, he bageled me twice (or only once? I hope it was only once  :)).

We managed to execute our whitewater rafting on raging Kicking Horse river, and this year, I must say, it was almost too dangerous. The water levels were the highest in last 50 years and the lower canyon was closed. There were couple of incidents in which rafts got destroyed, but good thing was that there were no casualties  On our side, we had LOTS of fun.

As EURO was over, Tour d' France was in progress, and the Olympics were coming, we were getting ready for our European trip.
Before going to Europe we went to Jasper, where per his wishes, Miki's ashes were united with Rocky Mountains. It was a beautiful day and I am sure all of us who were there understood some things better. Miki was now at probably better place.

August
Our plan for August fell through as Ada got a new job in the middle of our visit to London 2012. This meant that she had to fly back to North America and I would continue traveling by myself. We still managed to feel the Olympic atmosphere and to realize the greatness of city of London. I could write a lot about the Olympic experience but that's not a purpose of this entry. I was happy for my friends who lived in London and I thought that they were so privileged and lucky to live in such a metropolis.

I spent some time on Montenegro coast before going to Sarajevo where I wanted to meet as many friends as  I could. I go to my home town every year, and that's something that won't change. Sarajevo is also place where majority of my family lives and it is only place on Earth where I feel that I am at home. I've learned to call Alberta home as well, but there is only one city called Sarajevo.
It is amazing to see how everything is changing and how everything has its own pace. Sarajevo has always been a city in the center of the world and the city at the end of the world. When I am with my Sarajevo auntie Matilda and my cousins, Necko and Vera, and now with their adult kids, life cannot be better.
Somehow we have been catching up all these years, as before the war we were too busy with our lives, during the war we were too far from each other (even though we were in the same city), and after the war we were too far again, but this time really in geographical terms.

Every year I also visit places in Bosnia & Hercegovina, that I never visited before. I am constantly amazed how I didn't recognize all of that beauty when I lived there. Now, I have to fly 10 000 km to see it. I guess many things in our lives we learn on a hard way. This August I had such a privilege to drink the most special rakija in probably last 20 years - "Orahovaca", home made by Vaneja's father Radovan.
I arrived to Sarajevo on first day of Ramadan and I was celebrating it on my first night there.

September
The ninth month of the year was emotional. I saw some of my high school friends for the first time since 1992. I went to Belgrade, Serbia as a tourist, and I met with my old classmates. As you might know my generation is scattered throughout the world, and some of them found their home in Belgrade. I really missed all of them. We were practically strangers to each other, now in 2012, as people that we remembered from 1992 were different now.

It was tough to go there, I must say. I still remembered 1425 days that I spent in siege in Sarajevo, the siege that was orchestrated by ideology born in this great city by bad people. But then, I was there, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time. The best was of course time spent with my friends. Somehow, I had a feeling as it was still us, just boys from 1992, now a bit older, but still with our own unique spirits. I certainly know I will take Ada to Belgrade, as the city is a "must" place to visit.

I also visited my family in Zagreb, Croatia, and even though I had a tight schedule, it was great to see them, short but sweet. My cousin's daughters were more beautiful than when I saw them last time. I know that Branko and Vesna are proud of them. I love them very much.
I got together with my great friend Sax with whom I spent a year in the army. We discussed all over again the meaning of number 6 - nevertheless, the next year is 2013, 2+0+1+3 = 6!! It was also nice to see Ivana, and especially to figure out where we can have our coffee in Tkalciceva street in Zagreb.

I visited my second mom Eda in Orebic. She has a special place in my heart and I wished I had more time to spend with her and Mario.
I also paid a visit to my most favorite restaurant on Adriatic, "Drago", in Sveti Stefan (Saint Stephen), Montenegro. I don't know where else is possible to get such great food.
As September was coming to an end I was ready to go back to Alberta. There was another reason to go back - I missed my Ada.

October
October came so suddenly as I was asleep. Shorter days, colder days, but irresistible colours given to us by nature shaped this month. We were still playing our mixed doubles socials, did 3rd annual "Boris Comeback", and were already planning for more events in the following months.
I learned that my auntie Matilda was in hospital and that was indeed source for stress. I hoped that she will be OK and that I will soon be talking to her on the phone again.

Ada was busy with her new job and working with Alberta MBA Alumni Association, and I was busy with advertising myself to various businesses as I was now looking for new contracts. I increased my presence on the web and learned a thing or two about 'selling' techniques.

We still found some time for a quick trip to Shanghai for different purposes. Sweet Sugar engaged into shopping (I did some shopping too, as there is more choice there), and I had that privilege watching some magnificent tennis on Shanghai masters.

I picked up my running and that was a bit challenging because I didn't run since early August. That was a reason why I didn't do any fall series X-country races. I also did a lot of mountain biking as at this time of year the trails are dry and visibility is better as there are less leaves on trees.
I played tennis with my mentor Jack and more than that talked about swimming against current.
Nakiska got hammered by snow and that meant that we were entering a winter season.

November
There is usually snow on the ground in early November. It wasn't different in 2012. We got our early snow, mountains got it much more, and Mt. Norquay opened, the earliest of all Alberta ski resorts.
I didn't do Banff Winterstart this year as I felt that I wasn't ready enough. I probably could've done it, but a thought about running up on Tunnel mountain half prepared, definitely turned me off.
We couldn't do our mixed social doubles outdoors anymore, but we did couple of social events. We had the most fun at Polish Hall.

It was also nice to spend time with Gyula, Audre and Leo - life was miracle indeed. It seemed that somehow a whole circle got executed - Miki left us, but Leo was with us.
As the snow came in huge amounts we prepared our skis, and we conserved our tennis and walking shoes. I started running more seriously as I wanted to build a mileage for the next year. I ran 19 times in November for a total of 1027 minutes.
November was a bit tough as I was informed that my auntie Marija from Zagreb passed away. That meant that I would have one less Christmas card to write. More, it meant that I lost somebody who loved me unconditionally. I am still sad about it.

December
I didn't know if we would be alive at the end of this December, but I knew that I will be enjoying it, every minute. I continued running strong, going longer distances with more hills. Only setback was my new shoes that I actually had to replace with the old ones, as something was wrong with my foot.
In regards to skiing, this year Lake Louise Ski World Cup was exceptionally good, and there was a lot of snow, even more than last year at this time.

After long preparation Ada delivered her Master of Ceremony role during Alberta MBA Alumni Association students business event. I was happy to know and see that she was so comfortable in front of huge audience, and again, I thought that she must be very proud of her effort.
I got my Advanced Leader Bronze designation and I started working on my Certified Architect designation. It will take lots of work and effort to prepare written thesis, and I don't want to think about its defense  Let's say that I will take one step at the time.

And then, Christmas came. Quite quickly. Quietly. Traditionally we spend a first half of a Christmas day by skiing and then we help volunteering rest of the day for those less fortunate.
I spend Christmases with my Ada, and that's the best thing. It is interesting how both of us chose this road, to be so far away from home, but then that was probably the main reason why we met.
This year, we had a real white Christmas. We also had a very cold Christmas. But then, there are no complaints about it, only a joy. Our mother nature gave us unforgettable December days that I will always remember.

And that's all for 2012.

Happy 2013!!!

The goal is running

There are many reasons why I love running. It makes me feel alive. It makes me strong. It makes me free. It makes me happier than already I am. It makes me unique. It makes me competitive. It makes me different. It makes me "weird". It makes me fit. It makes me slim. It makes me who I am. It makes me determined.

Feeling of Freedom
I feel free when I am running. I am not stuck in traffic. I don't have to worry about crazy drivers in V8 pickup trucks. I am free when I run because I can, and I want to run. I am free when I run as nobody told me to run because it was a "Black Friday", or because there was a big sale event happening. Running is free and in order to run you don't have to spend lots of money. Certainly you could, as running 'industry" will tell you that something is "cool' and "absolutely necessary".

Pain is weakness that leaves the body

When I run I am part of nature. I watch, I listen, I smell. I listen sounds produced by my running on crisp snow and I listen my own breathing. I see my breath that sometimes almost crystallizes as I don't stop running when it get's cold. Depending on the season I see different pictures around me and my footing is different. When we get our short rain season I run through water and mud and that liberates me.

I feel my muscles work. They push me up the big hills and they get tired. I feel pain but on the top any hill I know I am stronger. My muscles work overtime but they get better. Many times I "hit the wall", and pain is almost unbearable. My heart is pumping, my muscles are on fire and my mind is almost quitting  but I know that all of that pain is actually weakness leaving the body. It feels great as I know I am using my own power to move, fast and sometimes faster, as much as I can and want at any given moment.

Running is individual sport but I meet many people when I am running. I meet other runners, walkers, people with dogs, couples in love, couples that just met. Many of them smile, say "hi" or "hello", or wave with their hand. Very few are rude and don't notice me. They are usually "busy" listening their iPods. Nevertheless I still say "hello" and wave my hand. I know they are enjoying too, perhaps even more than me, as they have their favourite tunes motivating them.

Winterstart Race

When I run I remember times when I wasn't able to run as my home town was in siege and only running was applied when I (we) were trying to escape sniper fire. Many times I ran as people from the hills were bomb shelling us, so I was trying to run faster thinking that I might not get shot. I was lucky I didn't get shot and these people who were shooting at us are still saying that they didn't.

That's why when I go running now, when I go 8, 9, 12, 15 km, or longer, I am so happy that I can just go and run, and be free. I run and my face and my body is all enveloped in sweat. My body is functioning how it should and I feel that I move like a sail boat on a perfect wind. It feels as there is no effort. I navigate through icy trails, steep down-hills, and my feet place itself as they feel terrain and as they cannot make mistake. Well, I still crashed twice on my run couple of days ago. Nothing is perfect.

Technology and running
I have a stop watch that I use to measure my time. That's the only running gadget I own. I was thinking about getting other useful gadgets but I didn't buy them. I thought that its extensive usage would take too much of joy I have while running. Many people ask me what is my running goal, and I say: "The goal is running". I am reluctant to adopt technology in this joyful part of my life. It would create many rules and when a game gets rules, it stops being a game. That's why running makes me different and weird.

I do have the most technologically advanced running shoes though. That's where I accept technology. Only reason for that is to protect my feet as they get hard pounding every time I run. That hard pounding affects everything else, and it is of paramount importance to decrease it and absorb it.

Running also gives me so called "runner's high", that I haven't been aware of, I guess almost ever. I feel good and I feel animated all the time anyway.  But running gives me even more boost and increases my energy even more.

Inspiration
Running inspires me. People who used running to become successful business people inspire me too. They help many others to start running, even though only reason for that was profit. But, they still help. Good for them.

Runners inspire me. World class, national class, local runners, fast runners and not so fast runners inspire me.
Well, when I run I inspire myself. And this is not hot air - it is true. Many times I feel crappy and I want to skip my arranged run, I want to do nothing. And then I still go running, somehow I convince myself to go running, and then I have a blast. I don't know if I can describe that feeling when I am done with my run. It feels indescribable. Try it out. You might get that feeling too.

Last 30 days of running

I am not an elite runner and I don't win races (I only won one running race in my life!). I run because of genes I have in me, genes that still remember that we were runners long time ago. I run because I can and because running is there. I run because it feels good, and because I want to run. I run because I am an investor who invests in himself.

And now, enough writing, I am going running.

We waste time on meetings

There are millions of meetings being held every day. You might be part of one of these meetings. They could be at work, at your volunteering organization, at your condo board....really everywhere.

I am sure that many of you had this feeling - how many times, during your long or short meeting, you really didn't know what you were doing there? You felt dumb. You felt and actually you knew you were wasting your time. There were no agenda, nobody was chairing the meeting, some of people took all time they could, some people dominated every conversation, some people kept interrupting others, some people browsed their hand held devices......You get the picture.

Imagine how much productive time is wasted every day and every hour, during these ineffective meetings? Millions of hours that could be used for something productive and useful. This is not fun. This also might sound negative, as it brings the truth, but I am sure that everyone has felt this way at least once in his/her life. On the other hand, to add a positive spin to this,  I did participate to some very effective meetings too. I know that you did too. That's where I want to focus. I want to find out why these meetings were efficient, productive and effective. I want to find it out from you.

Backwards Meeting

I will explore this next time, as my real intention today was to talk about backwards meeting. This is probably something that cannot be applied in a business setting, but I believe, it still should be explored as it develops a different way of thinking and challenges us to adopt to something that our Euclidean brain doesn't support. It also creates so much fun that you'll definitely want to do it more than once. It is more likely that this could be explored in a setting that supports structured meeting with defined agenda. For example, we had Backwards meetings at my Toastmasters club, and when I witnessed it and participated for the first time, I found it quite challenging, but so much fun. Thanks to my colleague Wang Yip who introduced it to the club, we had that privilege of experiencing something that was really demanding. That really connects to my way of thinking that emphasizes on constant learning and challenging of each other.

What is a backwards meeting? Well, simply, it is a meeting that starts from its end and finishes at point where it should start. So, we start with closing remarks ("Thank you for being here today, our next meeting is next week.") and progresses through agenda items going towards the start of the meeting. If you are a chairman, your last words will probably be:"Good afternoon everyone and welcome to our meeting". Some, and actually I believe, many people would ask: "What are the benefits of backwards meeting? What do I get from it?" Short answer is: "To teach your brain to think in a different way, to take a road less traveled  and help yourself to become more complete and more diverse person.

Everyone who participates in this meeting can gain enormous benefits by exploring this other, "opposite" way of thinking. For example, if Evaluator mentions in his/her evaluation that the speaker: "Showed us push-ups in such a great way", the speaker should try to incorporate these push-ups in his/her speech or presentation. If Timer marks that Table Topics Speaker (TTS) spoke 2 minutes and got clapped down, the TTS has to speak for 2 minutes, and actually has to start after applause. This also means that everyone else has to participate by clapping. This also means that person in charge has to lead this applause, and actually to be focused 200% of the meeting flow. Each role is done backwards, so everyone has to prepare in advance. Everyone has to think. Everyone has to listen.

In order not to make this complicated I am publishing my Backwards Meeting logistics that I developed, as I was responsible for our 2nd ever backwards meeting. Note that this work is based on original backwards meeting material published by Wang Yip. I intend to record my next Backwards Meeting and publish it, so that people could see it, instead of reading it.

Who knows, maybe some of them will organize backwards meetings and ultimately put yourself out of their comfort zone.

Clint Eastwood would call them "punks"

I ski a lot, mostly at Mt.Norquay, but sometimes I go to Lake Louise. Louise is indeed a world class ski hill and I enjoy it tremendously.

Couple of weeks ago, I was at Louise. I did a couple of quick Summit runs in the morning and then decided to go back to the base, to take a Glacier quad back to the Top of the World. People who skied at Lake Louise know what I am talking about. Everybody else, try to come to Lake Louise....

The lineup was considerable and I took a singles line as I was all by myself. Waiting time is really never long anyway, but it usually goes faster in the singles line. While waiting, I heard how one guy was calling his buddies to switch from the singles line to the ‘all other people’ line. I looked back and saw that there was suddenly more space in the middle, and I saw this dude crossing the fence, leaving the singles line and lining up now in the ‘big’ line. Others followed him, and I think there were 4 or 5 of them.

They (thought they) were "smart". All of them lined up first in the singles line even though they were not skiing alone, and then when there was an opportunity for even faster approach to the chair lift, they moved to the other line. This dude who initiated this rude behavior, a ‘pack leader’ was very young, with ugly red beard, a snowboarder (For the record: I have nothing against snowboarders!), in all ‘fancy’ clothes (actually in tasteless clothes). He was your typical ‘punk’ if I can say that. Clint Eastwood would call him a "punk", I am sure.

I thought, well, there is nothing that can prevent idiots to disrespect the world and people. This happens and it will always happen, especially with these ‘dudes’ who think they own the world. It was almost my turn to board the chairlift, and I was lined up with 2 older ladies. I could see these young ‘gentlemen’ getting on the lift in front of us, so they really made it faster! When we were almost ready to board our chair, one young guy passed us, actually went between us, as a snowblower (all of us almost fell, and looked at each other acknowledging that very rude behavior happened) to catch the next chair to be with his buddies, but somehow he was too slow (even with that speed!), and his only choice was to wait for the another chair.

It happened that these 2 ladies and I were boarding the next chair, and this dude sat with us. He was sitting on my right hand side, and 2 ladies were on my left hand side. All of us asked him, almost as one voice – what was he thinking, passing people in the lineup and disrespecting everyone? He said that he wanted to catch his friends, and we said that his friends were equally disrespectful, by changing the lines. He was quite young, and I couldn’t see his face because of goggles. We asked him if he were going to apologize, but he refused, stating that he had ‘right’, that ‘he skis a lot’, that ‘he knows the owner’…We were a bit shocked, as this punk actually attacked us instead of apologizing.

I was waiting for him to say:"Don't you know who I am?" :)

I grabbed my camera and said:”OK, perhaps you can become a star. I will shoot a movie with you as a main character so we can show to the world how smart you are. Everybody else is stupid, waiting in the line, but you are smart and you deserve to go first”. I pointed the camera towards him, and he tried to push my arm, but he didn’t succeed. He became more assertive as he knew what the power of the media is these days. I was pretending that I was recording him – I certainly didn’t want to waste my memory space on this human garbage.

Ladies asked him where he learned to behave like that. Was it his parents, family…..school….friends….He got a bit agitated and said how I “didn’t have right to record him”, “how that was against the law”…..I said that he was probably recorded at least 15 times on that day, by surveillance cameras. He then said that he would go to see the owner, and that he would go to talk to RCMP, and I said: “Sure, let’s go together; I will be happy to talk to them”.

He also demanded that the video doesn’t get released, as he was in total control of the situation. He also said that he would sue me for filming him. He also asked me for my name, I guess he wanted to make sure that he can sue me..hahaha. He thought that he was "smart".

It was amazing that he never said anything what he should’ve said. There were no any traces of apology, magical world: ”Sorry”….Well, you know what I mean. Nothing that is civilized came from his mouth, or from his gestures. He even tried to use a force, as I said, to prevent filming.

Someone could say, “Let him off hook as he is so young”….or “He is just a kid”…

I did certainly let him off hook, as the ladies as well. We didn't need any more demonstration of power.

At the top, I could see that this rude young man went to his buddies, probably to tell them how we ‘abused’ him, and who knows what else. For me, it didn't matter anymore, as I was here to ski, not to educate young Albertans. I went to the Top of of the World chair lift, and there was a small lineup, so I had to wait, probably a minute or two. But then, there was this ‘pack leader’, he skied down and approached me, and started almost yelling at me: ‘What did you do the child?”. “Why did you abuse the child?”.

When you hear these words, in any public area, it certainly becomes uncomfortable. He was using all these catchy words, as his intention was to make this public.

I responded after a bit of silence and looking at him (he said impatiently – ‘do you understand English”?) with: ”Excuse me?, I don’t know what you are talking about”. I strictly minded my business. He started again, almost yelling, asking for the video, ‘ordering me’ not to release it.

This was absolutely crazy. This punk even didn’t know that I was the right person, but nevertheless he chose to be aggressive, rude, and basically he wanted to fight. I ignored him and didn’t want to escalate it. I was afraid that I could hurt him and then I would get into trouble. I was ignoring him and I was minding my business.

He went to board the chair lift (again not waiting in the lineup, but squeezing in from the side), and I boarded my chair right after him.

During the lift ride I was thinking how all of this was crazy. All of them were so rude and disrespectful, and they never understood that. They thought that they were right. That they ‘deserved’ it. I remembered how I behaved and how I was taught to behave by my parents, by my teachers.

At the top, this punk even went to talk to the chair lift operator, I could see him, pointing at me, and when I got off, he started yelling again (“You’ll have to give up that video!”) as I was departing the loading area. I stopped and looked at him, and as this was an invite, he skied (well, he was on the snowboard) towards me, and started basically threatening me: ”You’ll return that video, and you’ll never publish it”. “I will go after you all day……””bla…bla…bla…”.

At that moment I was thinking how this punk was ruining my day, but if I do anything except leaving, I could ruin it even more. I said that he must’ve mixed me up with somebody, and I left.

I was sorry that I was in this great country called Canada that gives such tremendous freedom to its citizens and especially to the kids. This ‘pack leader’, and all of them were more protected than me, or anyone who would point out this disgusting behavior. If I did something like that, in country of my origin, I would be given a lesson that I would never forget. I would never thought about suing someone, calling for ‘child’ abuse, especially after I abused thousands of other people. This idiot was begging for a knock out.

Unfortunately, this is a common behavior here and elsewhere. This is normal. It is encouraged by the system in which only “I” and “Me” are important. Parents teach kids to be aggressive. Parents teach kids to be disrespectful. Majority of media shows materials that propagate so much violence. That's quite sad.

I know that there are different reasons for this kind of behavior. It is all connected. More aggression in politics, in workplace, in schools, in media…..less gentleness, cavalierly, honesty.

The more sensitive you are, the harder they hit you. Hit the gentle, kind and wise, propagate aggressive, selfish and dumb. The best way to control the sheeple.

On the other hand, I know that many will agree with me, and I know that their kids would never do what these punks did. These people are real and gentle people, and they understand what good manners and discipline means. Their kids are kind and gentle. Some of their kids have already became gentle and kind adults. They are the force that will help to dismantle this system that doesn't work anymore.

Mont Tremblant

Every year we choose a different destination for our Hot Tub Time Machine Club. This year we went to beautiful Mont Tremblant, Quebec. These are some of photographic paintings of our experience.


Top of the mountain reaches only 875 m, but you always know what is the conditions on the slopes.


I didn't find out what is te purpose of this tower. It looks great though with all snow on it.


The hill is not too hard - there are plenty flat sections all over the mountain.


The scenery is amazing - all the trees are covered in thick snow.


The lake view and village view are magnificant.


One day we ended up at "Scandinave" spa. It was quite fun alternating from hot to cold pools.


There are 4 mountain sides. We mostly skied on North and South sides.


"The monster" we had a rendezvous at Casey's.


The streets in the village were still covered by Christmas decorations.


Inside of Grand Manitou lodge on the top of the mountain.


The tower changed during the day. Fog, sun and more sun.




There was lots of new snow during our stay - that meant that we did some great powder skiing.





They were still making artifical snow. They always do that on Friday to prepare for a busy weekend.


View from Grand Manitou.


There were couple of double black diamond runs. I guess they have a different ranking in Quebec.

We had lots of fun in La Diable.

Hot Tub Time Machine Club (I borrowed this picture - that's the best one!! I wish I was such a skillful photographer)


It was great experience at this great resort. I am sure I'll go back. It certainly cannot compare to our Alberta mountains but everything else was much better.

Next year we'll go to.....