To Vail and Back

The largest ski resort in the U.S., the most groomed terrain on the planet, seven back bowls, 300 days of sunshine, voted Number 1 for the 14th time in 19 years in SKI Magazine's "Top 50 Resort Guide" and we didn't ski. Nick, you're an idiot.

Let me explain. In business school they teach us that lots of fledgling businesses fail not because of bad products but because of cash flow problems. I know, that makes no sense. Let me explain (again). Say I make shoes. I sell a lot of shoes to a retailer and send them a bill to pay within 60 days. It is benefical for them to wait until the last day since their money is earning interest in bank somewhere. Since I'm a new company, I'm super close to the edge and need their money to buy more rubber and shoestrings to make more shoes. So, although I've been successful at selling my product, the cash flow isn't there and my company fails (I hear this happens to a lot of IU MBAs).

So, I told that long and somewhat boring....yet informational....story to say that I didn't go skiing because I'm having a bit of cash flow problems right now. That loan money is coming in January, I'm starting work in January, and my check for grading papers is coming in January.....but it's December. $81 for a lift ticket and $25 for ski rentals really doesn't fit into the budget right now.

We still had fun though. Vail is a pretty cool place in that it calls itself a resort, but is almost a little city. A little city where you can't drive on any streets and they all lead to the lifts (33). A little city with The North Face, Patagonia, and Burton stores. A big resort with upscale hotel rooms 30 feet from the lift. A little city in that the nearest movie theatre is 20 miles away, but they're in the process of building one outdoors (don't really know how enjoyable that will be). You could tell that every person that drove a bus, or worked in a subway, or took tickets on the Gondola did so just they could afford their ski passes.

It was a cool place. I don't know that I would want to drive two hours in the middle of night across the Rocky Mountains (note, You have to drive over and around mountains to get to Vail) in a Chevy Cobalt (note, Cobalts have the worst headlights ever) without cruise control (note, without cruise control you have press on the gas peddle when on the highway....weird). I want to go back. Maybe next time, I'll ski.

What's the deal with Jack Johnson releasing the single for his new album a full 2 months before the album is released. That's dumb. Radiohead finished their album, then sold it on the internet the next week.

I was about to grab a couple of Bruce Springsteen tickets at his show in Indy, but I balked at the $100 a piece price tag. Sniffle.

Song Recommendation - Full Moon Cigarette by Gran Bel Fisher