Brooklyn had a project where she had to video record a passage from William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream“. I have a hard time reading English, let alone Old English. And by Old English, I mostly think it’s an under appreciated, budget drink.
Brooklyn was director, producer, creative director, props and played the role of Hermia. I was camera man and played the role of Lysander. Sarah was Helena. It was cute. The outtakes are hilarious. That will make it into the bonus material when we get financing to do the entire play.
I’m generally a heavy research guy when I buy things. I get excited digging in deep about a new area, topic or product. It annoys the heck out of Sarah because she would prefer I “just pick something” rather than spend weeks and months learning about every corner case or limitation. However, I can get annoyed by the overly exhaustive reviews or long videos about things. Sometimes I just need the TL;DR . So, I’m inventing the wildly innovative “Five Bullet Review” (sarcasm) — a short form review of well, anything.
Bullet #1 — The good
Bullet #2 — The bad
Bullet #3 — The ugly
Bullet #4 — The surprising
Bullet #5 — Recommendation
Feels straight forward, right? And it’s ode to a classic Clint Eastwood film.
So, what should I review? I have no idea but I thought I would start simple and review Dune by Frank Herbert which I recently read and listened to the Audible audio book during my time off. Widely considered one of the top ten science fiction books of all time.
Dune is set in the distant future amidst a feudal interstellar society in which various noble houses control planetary fiefs. It tells the story of young Paul Atreides, whose family accepts the stewardship of the planet Arrakis. While the planet is an inhospitable and sparsely populated desert wasteland, it is the only source of melange, or “spice”, a drug that extends life and enhances mental abilities. Melange is also necessary for space navigation, which requires a kind of multidimensional awareness and foresight that only the drug provides. As melange can only be produced on Arrakis, control of the planet is a coveted and dangerous undertaking. The story explores the multilayered interactions of politics, religion, ecology, technology, and human emotion, as the factions of the empire confront each other in a struggle for the control of Arrakis and its spice.
The good — Lived up to the hype. Well written. Fantastic character development. Deep world building.
The bad — Don’t listen to the Audible audio book. “A” for effort but it got confusing as hell. They had multiple readers reading different characters in different voices with different special effects. The voices would change and you ask yourself, who the heck is that? And why does that guy sound like Darth Vader?
The surprising — surprisingly fast read because there is plenty of action. Some science fiction can get into annoyingly deep detail on things but in this case, Herbert did a good job keeping the story moving.
Recommendation — if you like science fiction, you need to read Dune. If you don’t, some of the world building might bore you but I still think it’s worth the read.
Well, here’s to some more interesting reviews in the future.
Let me know what you think. Thank you for reading!
Alas, 2021 is coming to an end and a new year is upon us. What is the best way for me to summarize 2021? It sort of reminded me a baby having a surprise blowout on the changing room table and leaving a “fecal Jackson Pollock” on the wall. You look at it and can’t help but share a smile because well, there is shit all over the wall. Will the wall be the same again? Do I need to paint over it? 2021 was full of surprises. Ridiculous moments. WTF moments. All you could say is “wow, that is a lot of shit on the wall.”
Let’s take a moment to reflect back on some of these ridiculous events from from 2021 —
Global Pandemic Year #2 [Timeline] — at least we stopped washing our Wheat Thin boxes
Capitol Riots — sure, let’s throw a party at Capitol and everyone is invited! Except the people working there.
Withdrawal from Afghanistan — my assumption is that they grabbed the wrong plan on the way out the door, the plan marked “Don’t do this plan”.
Betty White’s passing — A true comedic gem. My favorite Dusty Muffin.
Wow. Pass the toilet paper.
Well, there were other things as well. The technology behind the mRNA vaccines is absolutely amazing. Our advancement in space travel and space exploration is pressing in high gear. Despite the pandemic, the Summer Olympics in Tokyo carried on even though I can honestly say I can’t remember many moments from the games. Facebook changed their name to distract us from their own blowout moment. Tesla sold 936,172 cars last year which feels like a lot of electric cars. More 5G rolled out and it felt exactly like what we had before. Unless you were in finance, you got more acquainted with the spot in your home where you work. You likely bought a plant for your desk.
Whew.
For the Mascardo family, we had a really good year all things considered. It wasn’t without its up and downs but I tend to look at things as a glass is half full. You have to these days. We got to experience our first complete year in Park City, Utah and it was amazing. Our new friends are amazing and I would say we have strengthened our friendships with the folks we cared the most about everywhere else. The outdoors and the seasons are just amazing. I’ve developed a new found appreciation for the serenity of the outdoors. Here are some of my blog posts on this topic —
The girls had spectacular school and sports years. Sarah and I had great experiences with our jobs. And, we’ve been pecking away at our home renovation projects all year long.
Working remote is here to stay for at least another year. Time to buy another plant.
Electric Vehicles continue to take hold with companies not Tesla gaining adoption
Further early adoption of augmented reality and virtual reality products with Apple releasing their offering in the space.
Further early adoption/disruption with DeFi / DAO / crypto / NFT
More cyber security shenanigans
Unfortunately, the Yankees won’t win the World Series (again)
All things considered, nothing to complain about and many more things to be grateful for. So many things. I’m hopeful for a very positive 2022. But, if its another “blowout” year like 2021, I’ll still find the things to be grateful for.
Enjoy some photos below from the past year.
Happy New Year to you and your family! Thank you for reading! Like or comment below!
Life can feel full of setbacks. All very random and of varying degrees. Not sure I would have predicted having a stroke in 2021 but it happened. Setbacks can also be opportunities given the proper perspective. Back when I was looking for my first job out of college, I was denied a job with a technology consulting company in the Washington D.C. area mostly because of a technicality in my application. At the time, I was crushed mostly because I was still learning that “setbacks” were ok. But soon after I got that rejection letter, I got invited to join a weekend of interviewing at a technology firm in San Francisco to which I accepted a job, found a group of amazingly smart technology friends that I am still friends today and of course, met my wife and mother of the my two beautiful girls. That rejection changed my life trajectory forever. Opportunity.
Setbacks are opportunities. Opportunity for an alternate path. Opportunity for growth. Opportunity for learning. Opportunity for motivation. Opportunity for drive. Opportunity for focus. Opportunity for humility. Opportunity for empathy.
And what gets you through the setbacks? Perspective and hard work.
My goal is to come back 125% from this stroke and use this moment as an opportunity for positive change. My recovery has been going very well. Recovering from anything brain related is a new experience for me. I have never had an head injury before. The brain seems to recover differently than other area of the body. It needs rest, sleep, hydration, proper stimulation and all with the proper amount of time. Through this process I’ve really wanted to test aspects of my brain like a program running self diagnostics on itself to see how things are “coming back online”. How are my gross motor skills? How are my fine motor skills? How is my long term memory? How is my short terms memory? How is my cognitive thinking? How are my emotions? How are my behaviors? Has anything changed?
In the hospital, I took the NIH Stroke Scale Assessment and a variation of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment test numerous times. One of the questions on the cognitive assessment test is being given 5 random words, committing them to memory and recalling them 5-10 minutes later. This test was popularized when President Donald Trump said he “passed this test with flying colors” — his five words were “Person, Woman, Man, Camera, TV” and they ended up being an internet sensation.
My words were “Apple, Pen, Tie, Car, House”. I’ll never forget those words now. As Sarah will tell you, I sometimes have a problem being “present in the moment” because we’re all self diagnosed with some form of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and then blame social media. Well, at the time I was so paranoid about the test that I literally burned those words into my brain. Now, I will remember them forever. At home, I find myself easing into physical and mental acuity drills just to see how sharp I am. Secretly, I wonder if the new found brain blood circulation will unlock new comic book like brain super powers! Nope. That has not happened. (yet)
While at the hospital I was provided these cool orange socks with “grippy” material at the bottom of them — clearly to prevent recreation of Tom Cruise’s scene from Risky Business. Random unverified fact from the internet is that the sock colors you are given mean something. Feels super logical but I’m not sure if its true.
Red socks indicate allergies; orange means the patient is a potential flight risk, and purple signals “do not resuscitate.” Like a neon sign, the socks are bright cues to all hospital staff. It’s the yellow socks that scream the loudest, demanding the most attention. Patients wearing yellow socks have been identified as being most at risk of falling. And falls can easily lead to broken bones, head injuries, longer stays in the hospital, increased costs and liability, and in the most severe cases, death.
The orange socks meant that I was a flight risk! Marked like Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption. Rest assured, I wasn’t planning to break out of my stay there.
Being discharged was a glorious moment. I appreciated every moment of my time in the hospital but it was time to go home. My dad (who is an Endocrinologist) had warned me that patients can experience a “high” leaving the hospital but that will come down and may even experience a setback in their recovery when they get home. He said to take it easy and not to jump back into things quickly. Wise words. I went home that day feeling great but then I actually fell down two stairs after everyone had gone to bed. I jumped up and laughed thinking to myself, “Whoa, it’s like I had a stroke or something.” It was at that moment that realized I probably needed the time to heal and this was a very different injury that I had experienced before. I should have had my yellow socks on. They would have protected me.
Now, for some thanks. Holy smokes the support was overwhelming. Sarah was at my side all day long. We joked it was the most dedicated time we spent without the kids in a long time! Our new friends in Park City sent so much food and support. All of our friends and family filled my phone with messages of support and offers to help. My CEO and co-workers just told me to relax and heal. That part was very hard for me as a chronic workaholic but I needed all the healing time I think. My old CrossFit box sent me a box of messages! I couldn’t ask for anything more from my people. Sarah and I are so grateful.
So, what am I doing during my downtime. Finally got the time to read Frank Herber’s Dune. I’m a huge sci-fi fan and this had been in my reading list for a long time. It did not disappoint and neither did the new movie for that matter.
“The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune
Our dog is getting lots of walking. I’m easing myself into physical activity again. I was scheduled to do a half-marathon in January but that probably isn’t going to happen. I’ll be getting back at Park City Fit in January on a modified workout regimen. The days of super heavy lifting is probably limited these days but my CrossFit friends would probably say I never lifted heavy anyway. Haha.
I’ve also been spending a lot of time trying to work my way through our medical system. It seems that acute symptoms get immediate attention but those with moderate symptoms can get lost in the shuffle. It took me close to a month to get a referral from one medical organization to another accepted and a doctor appointment scheduled. It involved dozens of phone calls and offering to purchase a new fax machine that was involved in the process. Yes, there is one actual fax machine that accepts all the referrals and it was broken for days. I’m grateful for the medical system we have but there are aspects that ripe for innovation — and by innovation I mean stop using a friggin’ fax machine from 1985. However, the bills got to me like butter on a hot piece of toast.
Checking … Apple, Pen, Tie, Car, House … yup, still ok.
Few things I’m keeping an eye out on —
I’m keeping an eye out on is being hit by another stroke. I have a much higher likelihood of having another stroke within the first three months of had one.
How the heck did this happen to me? The doctors might never know.
You might be asking yourself why am I being so open about having a stroke? Well, I really do think that stroke awareness is a real thing. I really didn’t know much about strokes before this or what to do when they happened. I just got lucky. Folks need to know that strokes can happen to anyone, anytime and anywhere. Folks needs to know the symptoms and what to do when it happens.
The other thing I’m committing to is raising and donating $10,000 to stroke research and awareness in 2022. I’m not sure how yet because I want to find the right charity. It might be that I start my own non-profit in 2022 that is focused on this but that will be for a future blog post. Stay tuned.
I truly believe Sarah, my dad, my response and medical staff saved me from long term damage or even saved my life all together. Will never forget Sarah telling, “Call your dad, you might be having a stroke.”
Do I think being so open about having a stroke might impact if folks might look at me differently or my employability? Whatever, if I can help one person be more aware of strokes then its worth it. Don’t hire or invest in me. You’ll regret it. #125percent
Hope you found my post interesting! Comment or reach out!
Photo from my hospital bed in the Neurological ICU in Murray, Utah
Yup, I had a stroke. Seriously.
First, let me take a step back. About ten years ago, I was about 60 pounds overweight and horribly out of shape. I told myself that I wanted to be alive for when my girls got married so I went on this big health kick. I started CrossFit, cut out carbs, cut back my drinking and just started being more healthy. It worked. I lost a ton of weight and was in the best shape of my life. Fast forward today, I consider myself a healthy person.
CrossFit 2-3 times a week
Jog 2-3 times a week
Training for a half marathon in January
Avid skier (35+ days last season)
New mountain biker
Lots of hikes and walks
Low blood pressure
Low cholesterol
But, it didn’t matter. I still had a stroke. Lesson learned, life is random as fuck.
It all started out one Saturday morning in November. I woke up like a normal Saturday but for some reason I had a peculiar headache. A headache that just felt different. So much so that I told Sarah, “Honey, I have a strange headache”. Other than the passing observation, I didn’t think much of it. I popped two Aleve and headed to CrossFit for my usual Saturday WOD. It was a partner WOD and I ended up working out with a trainer visiting from Montana. Super cool dude. Not a noticeably hard workout but I had been pulling back heavier weights because of strain on my back and joints ahead of the ski season.
Sunday. I spend most of the day raking leaves in the yard and taking care of odds and ends. That evening after we came back home from dinner I crouched down to tie my shoe and my left leg started to feel weird when I got up. I’m pretty sure whatever was happening to my brain had started that weekend. I just went to bed thinking I had pushed myself too hard with the yard work all day.
Monday morning — I was supposed to go to the 5:15am CrossFit WOD like I usually do but I slept right through my alarm. That’s was odd. I got up a little later and reached for my phone like I usually do to check on things at work — my right hand and arm just didn’t feel right. I could not scroll through notifications or type normally. I kept having to shake my arm out thinking my arm was still asleep. I got up thinking that it was a transitory issue — got the kids to the school bus and walked the dog. I went for a jog afterwards since I didn’t make it to the gym. My right arm felt like it was barely attached appendage on my body. At that point, I knew something was going on. Jumped in the shower and really got concerned when I couldn’t button my pants or put my watch on. I went to reach for a bottle of baby aspirin in the kitchen and could not grip the bottle. I called Sarah and told her something was up. She asked me casually, “Could you be having a stroke?”. How prescient. I called my dad who is a doctor. We ran through some basic stroke questions and recommended that I get to the emergency room as soon as possible. Oh boy, here we go.
Generally speaking, I tend to be a cool person during a crisis. I have had to deal with that a lot as part of my job. So, I was staying cool and could feel the adrenaline start to flow. It was 9:30am at this point and I have a work meeting with my Vice Presidents to get the week going. I jumped on the Zoom just to tell them that I was headed to the emergency room — I was shaking my right arm trying to get some feeling back. Trying to click on my touch pad was like my arm was replaced with a whiffle ball bat. I just didn’t have any control of it. I told my staff and they immediately told me get off the Zoom and get going. My team at work is the best and have been the best since I’ve been going through this. More specifically, my CEO at work has been absolutely amazing through this. Probably one of the best CEO’s I’ve had the opportunity to work for.
Ok, bad decision time. I went upstairs to grab my shoes. I couldn’t tie my shoes so I tucked my laces into my socks. Rather than call 911, I jumped into my car and drove myself to the hospital. Dumb. I should have called for an ambulance. I didn’t have enough control in my right arm to effectively use the touch screen properly. In my head, if something bad happened, I would hit the autopilot button and the car would take me to the rest of the way and maybe I would be some poster boy for autonomous driving. Haha. Dumb. But I did have enough control to find some Christmas music to play while I drove. So, there I was cruising down the highway driving with my left arm, listening to Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas”, shoe laces tucked into my socks like a homeless man and having a stroke. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself that this is ridiculous.
I made it the Park City Hospital Emergency Room. Hazzah! This part becomes a bit of blur because it went from listening to “White Christmas” to turbo mode. I checked myself in and sat down for 1.5 seconds before a group of health care workers came out to help me. At that point, I was dropping things all over the place because I instinctively hand things to my right hand that effectively stopped working. I was whisked into the emergency room and I could hear the head nurse say “Move it. We have a stroke.”. She noticed that I heard her and said to me, “Don’t worry. That is just to get people moving.”
Then, a full battery of tests — blood pressure, temperature, IV, CAT scan #1, CAT scan #2 with some die that almost made me pee my pants, MRI #1, CAT scan #3, blood, more blood, COVID test, and even more blood.
Long story short, they found a blood clot on the top of my head and bleeding. Well, that earned me a ticket on the life flight helicopter to the primary Neurological ICU. It got super real at that point. Sarah looked at me and asked me if I wanted to leave a message for the girls. I’ve never had any brain trauma before so my thoughts went to all the scary stories I’ve read on brain surgery or stroke treatment.
The helicopter took 8 minutes to get to Park City and it was a quick 8 minute flight over Park City Mountain to get to its destination. The Canyons side of Park City Mountain has a lift called the “Orange Bubble Express” that I easily identifiable because each chair has an orange shield that riders can pull down on windy days. It connects the main resort to some epic trails that Brooklyn and I spent a ton of time last season skiing. The helicopter flew right over the Orange Bubble Express — so low it felt like I could touch the peaks. I thought to myself, “well, those were good times”. I won’t lie, the fragility of my own mortality became very real at that point.
I spent a little less than a week at the hospital with most of that time in the Neurological ICU with the most amazing medical professionals. I am so grateful for all of them and the care they provided me. I owe my life to them. Sarah was at my side through it all. Both sets of parents flew in to provide support. Our new Park City Community provided dinners and support. The messages from friends and family. All the soup! It was amazing. I am truly grateful for it all.
My doctor told me that I hit the lottery twice. The first was having this type of stroke at my age. This type of stroke impacts only 3 out of 1,000,000. The second was making my way out of the stroke with likely no long term damage. I’m more grateful for the later. Haha. My prognosis is for a full recovery and I’m taking the time now to heal. The brain needs to heal in ways I’ve never really realized.
So, what higher level observations through all of this?
Life is short. Life is fragile. Find your joy.
I’ve gained a deep level of Perspective and gratitude. It’s good to be alive.
Know the signs of a stroke and go immediately to the hospital.
Don’t drive yourself to the emergency room regardless if your car can drive you there on its own.
Listen to Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” during stressful times.
I’m so grateful for my journey through this that I’m going to donate and raise money for the American Stroke Association (a subsidiary of the American Heart Association). Stay tuned for the GoFundMe. I’m also going to see what other creative things I can do to educate of strokes and help those that have had one. Did you know —
In 2018, 1 in every 6 deaths from cardiovascular disease was due to stroke.1
Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Every 4 minutes, someone dies of stroke.2
Every year, more than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke. About 610,000 of these are first or new strokes.2
About 185,000 strokes—nearly 1 of 4—are in people who have had a previous stroke.2
About 87% of all strokes are ischemic strokes, in which blood flow to the brain is blocked.2
Stroke-related costs in the United States came to nearly $46 billion between 2014 and 2015.2 This total includes the cost of health care services, medicines to treat stroke, and missed days of work.
Stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability.2 Stroke reduces mobility in more than half of stroke survivors age 65 and over.2 [reference link]
I’ll provide a follow up post with my recovery. I can’t think of a better place to heal and reflect than Park City, Utah — for a resurgence going into the second half of my life living life at 1000%!
Thank you all for the support. Onward and upward!
“Get busy living or get busy dying.” — Stephen King
Fall is upon us here in Park City, Utah. We’re in the middle of “first winter” — where it snows early and those new to the area freak out. It is followed by “second fall” where the snow melts fast and it feels like fall again. Followed by “second winter” which last until March. We got a wet, heavy snow a few weeks back that resulted in a tree from my property falling on my neighbors house. That was fun. The snow has since melted and mother nature has been recently toying with some more snow but it’s not really sticking.
Last year was fantastic season on the mountain for the family. I was able to get 36 days on the mountain, almost entirely at Park City Mountain. I’d normally be happy with 10-15 ski days when I was living in California or New York/Connecticut. We only committed to the EPIC pass last year. It was hard not to want to keep hitting the largest mountain in the United States and the second largest ski resort in North America behind Whistler Blackcomb. Park City Mountain is gigantic. The terrain is super cool. We were exploring new trails all winter long. Brooklyn got more than 45 days on the mountain! She’s been really enjoying learning the all-mountain terrain with Park City Ski & Snowboard (PCSS) where they did their lessons at Utah Olympic Park.
This year we are approaching things slightly different — the family got the EPIC & IKON base passes this year and we’re hoping to hit a wider variety of mountains. The local, blackout and kids versions of the passes are solid discounts over normal adult pricing so it’s not as bad as it sounds. And we tend not to go to the mountain when it’s super packed anyway. It pays to be a local. The EPIC and IKON passes provide solid coverage across most of the best mountains around this area. Some folks in Park City can get super crazy — they get the EPIC and a dedicated mountain pass where they get the IKON pass as an add on. For example, EPIC plus Deer Valley Season Pass and then add on the IKON. That would be for the true Deer Valley lover. For those coming to visit, I highly recommend evaluating the various cross mountain passes because the day passes are outrageously priced. Hit a week in Utah plus your local mountain and your pass is paid off.
** Resorts in bold are higher priority for us to visit this year
It will be interesting to see what happens with COVID this coming ski season. EPIC Pass run by Vail Resorts published this in terms of COVID restrictions for the 2021-22 season. The two most notable items is no reservation system and masked only required indoors. I’m excited not having to worry about reservations and not wearing a masks outside.
In terms of gear, last year I upgraded my 20+ year old battle skis to entirely new gear — Salomon QST 92 and Salomon S/PRO 100‘s. Huge upgrade from my old Solomon Pilots that were so old that they little “shock absorbers” were leaking. Haha. The new skis are shorter and wider on foot and a modern day design compared to my old skis. The QST 92’s have decent float on powder but I might look out for a wider powder ski later down the line. For now, these are a great all mountain skis.
Finally, I just wanted to pay my respects to “the Farmer” who was a staple at Alta. I didn’t know him at all but appreciated his passion for the basics joys in life.
Here’s to a great 2021-22 ski season! #prayForSnow
Congratulations to the Waterford Women’s Soccer Team for their 2A State Championship win against Rowland Hall at Rio Tinto Stadium. Molly is the starting midfielder on the team and is surrounded by a super talented set of players. I’m super proud of Molly and the entire team for battling against a team they lost two regular season games against. Sarah and I have always said that we want our kids to #1 have a passion for something and #2 realize the value of consistent hard work towards their passion. Success will happen over time if they have those two things in place. Molly has found the passion and is one heck of a hard working kid.
Here are some articles on the lead up and championship game —
High school soccer: Waterford and Rowland Hall renew rivalry following convincing semifinal victories [link]
High school girls soccer: Seven Castain scores four goals in Waterford’s 2A championship game victory [link]
Waterford beats Rowland Hall 4-3 to claim girls’ 2A soccer title [link]
Waterford vs Rowland Hall 2A Girls Championship Game Walk In
Waterford vs Rowland Hall 2A Girls Championship Game Introductions
Waterford vs Rowland Hall 2A Girls Championship Game Closing Seconds
Live Music is Life. It’s one of the biggest things I missed when the world shutdown because COVID. There is something about watching musicians who have spent tireless hours being good at one instrument and and then even more tireless hours working with other musicians to form a band. I’ve been a Phish Phan for years … too many years. I wouldn’t consider myself a “super fan” only because some of my friends are absolute super fans. They know every note, riff, tease and can call out show openers like a modern day Nostradamus. Thats not me. I just enjoy their groove and have an appreciation for their masterful musicianship.
The 10/16/2021 and 10/17/2021 shows in San Francisco, California were rescheduled from COVID canceled shows previously set for 7/25/2020 and 7/26/2020. When the tickets went on sale my family and I still lived in the Bay Area and the idea of moving was just an idea. I had put in my “mail order” request for the shows in San Francisco and at the Gorge back in February 2020 and had completely forgot about them — one month before California closed. Well, we moved to Park City and surprise, I got an email that I had tickets on the way to my old house in California — haha. I even had to email them and ask them “what shows did I purchase?”.
I ended up selling all of my tickets online but serendipitously found myself traveling to the Bay Area for work and decided to meet my friend at the Sunday 10/17/2021 show at the Chase Center in San Francisco — the new home of the Golden State Warriors. First, it was so amazing to see my buddy who I had not seen in years — second, the show was amazing. The setlist was solid. The energy was high. The groove was groovy. The light show was off the charts.
10/17/2021 Phish @ Chase Center Setlist
Set 1: Bug, My Soul > Back on the Train, Maze, Steam, Destiny Unbound, Beauty of a Broken Heart, Reba, I Never Needed You Like This Before
Set 2: Evolve, Set Your Soul Free, Wingsuit > Chalk Dust Torture
Encore: Lawn Boy, Wolfman’s Brother
Steam contained a Dave’s Energy Guide tease. Chalk Dust Torture included a Wingsuit tease. This was the rescheduled date from the show that had been postponed due to the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. [Reference: Phish.net]
Unfortunately, I woke up the next morning to a slew of text messages about how the Phish message boards were a fire with discussion of a “death” at the show. I didn’t notice anything that night other than a section across from us was empty but pointed it out to one of my friends that it was weird. The news would not pick it up until later that day — two individuals fell/jumped/not sure from the upper balcony to the lower level — one of those individuals died. Very sad.
I can’t say too surprising though. The combination of raucous dancing, the steep balconies, low glass railings and likely drug use is a deadly combination. I had the opportunity to see the third concert at the Chase Center which was Dave Matthews Band back in 2019. It was my first time in the brand new building and my first reaction was how steep the balcony was an how oddly low the railings are. I’m sure they will make some changes after this incident. Trey said a few choice words about it at the next Phish show in Eugene, Oregon. The Phish community is small so it was a bit rattling. My condolences go out to the friends and family involved with the deceased.
So, even through it was a Great show. Great vibe. Great performance. The cloud of the death will hang over that show.
Alas, the last installment of “There is Life Outside of the Bay Area” series of blog posts journaling my family move from Danville, California to the mountain town of Park City, Utah.
And now the next check in! The family and I have reached another milestone — we’ve now been living in Park City, Utah for 15 months! Holy smokes. It feels like we’ve been here for longer — the time has flown by. Park City feels like our little mountain town. My family loves it here and we have not really looked back. We have met the nicest people in our neighborhood, community and school. Mountain living is definitely full of adventure and creates a sense of peace that is hard to explain. Looking back, the original hypothesis on the move was that the family needed a “change in gear” that would provide adventure and a lifestyle improvement. TLDR; We feel really good about our move to Park City. No regrets.
I decided to throw together a list of things we got right and those that we got wrong through our move. Consider it a mini-retrospective in software development process speak.
Things that went right —
We made the right decision to move. Staying in California was “comfortable” and we found something different someplace else. It was not easy but worth the work.
We picked the right place to move. Park City is a super unique mountain town. Small enough to still feel like a mountain town but 30 minutes from Salt Lake City and a major airport. Plus, this town has the best skiing, hiking, mountain biking in North America.
We picked the right neighborhood — lots of families, away from the touristy Park City downtown and closer to Salt Lake City.
We picked the right house at the time. Housing inventory felt like it completely bottom’ed out after we found our house. I think our time here would have been very different if we were in a rental.
We picked the right school for the girls. They are thriving there.
We guessed right that things are more accessible in Utah as compared to California. There is lots to do in California but we found it challenging to do those things because it was just far enough or just enough traffic or just too many people. There is less of that here in Utah.
We underestimated the wildlife — its amazing. There is a nice family of moose that visit from time to time to watch sports on our TV.
Things that went wrong —
We didn’t anticipate number of tourists in Park City. Wow, every other car is from another state here and from all over the United States. There are only supposed to be ~8580 residents in Park City but it feels much more than that given how many owners have moved into their 2nd homes because of COVID. Keep in mind that Danville, California has ~44,164 residents so it’s still ok.
We didn’t anticipate that the restaurant scene was going to be so bad. We were just pampered by having the best restaurants in the greater Bay Area. Our theory is that that the lowered demand and state restrictions on beer, wine and liquor creates a different sort of business dynamic for restaurants. Oh well, nothing wrong with Panda Express.
We didn’t anticipate how homogenous the population is — skewed white (see below). We were warned but wow, its true. That being said, Danville California was generally a white community as well but there is a significantly higher Asian community — 3x more Asians in Danville. What does that mean … more Panda Express.
Danville, California Population by Race [Reference]
We didn’t anticipate the raising cost in labor, commodities and how the construction labor market is just different here. The home we bought needed some renovations and finding the labor to do that work at a reasonable rate was harder and more expensive than we thought.
We underestimated how cool Salt Lake City is as a city. So many fun things to do.
We underestimated the proximity of University of Utah and BYU. Very cool schools with great sports programs.
So, will we be here in Utah for the rest of our lives? I’m not sure about that. My recent trip to Boston, Massachusetts to visit colleges with Molly reminded me that there are still some very cool cities on the east coast. I think Park City will always be our mountain town for sure and is going to be a fantastic chapter for us until the kids go to college.
Overall, if you want to try something new — take a chance. You only live once.
Thank you for reading. Please don’t hesitate to ping me with questions, comments or feedback!
I cannot believe that we’re into March 2021. The Mascardo family has now been in Park City, Utah for 6+ months, we’re 2 trimesters into school and there is only a few more weeks of skiing left this winter. Around this time last year, California and most of the world was starting to lock things down — more specifically on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic following weeks of community spread from China to the rest of the world. And on March 16, 2020, the Bay Area went into lock down. I vividly remember the city of Danville, California taking down the basketball hoop rims to prevent gatherings. And, being super excited to have find toilet paper at Costco. And, having conversation with our neighbors about them buying a freeze to store food because they were preparing for a huge run on meat products. These are some of the headlines I screen grabbed during that fateful March in 2020.
What has mountain living been like? I thought it would have been like living in Connecticut because New York/Connecticut got pretty cold and snowy but it has not quite been the same. Coming from Danville, California — clearly totally different, haha.
So far, I’m loving the seasons. We had a generally mild winter — bad for early winter skiing but good for my Californian family to start to get used to the cold and snow. We are all looking forward to the summer and a summer with activities now that the COVID numbers in Utah are looking good.
The snow really is “the greatest snow on earth”. It’s light and fluffy. Easy to shovel. Amazing to ski in.
Downside to all the fluffy snow, it is dry out. More dry than the arid climate of Danville, California. Managing humidity in your house becomes a thing. Places here have central humidifiers but if that humidity gets trapped someplace like in the attic, it can create a very bad moisture situations. Proper air circulation is super important in those cases.
The winter is warmer than I expected here and I think that because its so dry. A wet cold can really feel super cold.
The sun comes out a lot. A storm might roll through but then we’ll get sunny blue skies right behind it. This place is nothing like when we lived in Seattle/Bellevue. There it was “gray” for more than half of the year. Awful.
The altitude has not factored much in our day to day. Our house is at roughly 6600 FT which feels like the perfect altitude for mountain living — anything higher and I think we would have had to deal with it more. Visitors don’t complain about getting altitude sickness.
There are sharp temperature drops at night so you need to watch for things like frozen hose bibs if you keep the external water running. I never had this problem in New York/Connecticut for some reason. You also need to “blow out” the sprinklers at the beginning of the winter or else all those pipes will break.
Snow removal isn’t so bad. Similar to New York/Connecticut but the snow is much lighter. My snow blower is amazing and in those cases when I might be traveling, we have a plow service that is cheaper than what I paid for the minimal yard services in California.
How about the other aspects of life in Park City?
The kids are living their best lives. Utah is generally open. The kids go to school, have made new friends, play their sports, are active with skiing and hiking on the weekends. They have thrived.
The pace of life is slower but it’s easy to take the pace from California and just move it to Utah. Thats what happened to us in the beginning and we are still transitioning out of that mindset.
Work for Sarah and I has generally been as expected because most companies are still remote. Access to other work opportunities has been higher than expected. There is high demand for folks in tech and they don’t care where those folks are based. We have both seen an uptick in interest in our skillset despite living away from Silicon Valley.
Silicon Slopes is definitely a far cry from Silicon Valley but that’s ok. I’m surprised to see all the technology companies having an office in the greater Salt Lake City area.
I am amazed by how many out of state license plates are in town. Just the other day, I was surrounded by cars from Maine, Connecticut, Florida and California. Florida feels super far from Utah for a drive — 2300 miles far. Folks tell me this isn’t normal but I would imagine there are still many visitors here even during a non-COVID year.
Access to legendary skiing has been amazing. I’ll do 35+ ski days this year. Sarah has been doing cross country skiing.
Restaurant selection is bad especially compared to San Francisco and New York City.
I’ve not really noticed the LDS influence except that Sundays are mostly open because lots of places are closer and they there are no kids activities. That has been amazing.
Park City and Utah is definitely very caucasian. That stereotype if very true.
Pickle ball is a thing there. Folks are really into it.
Do we miss anything specific about living in California? Friends and family for sure. The beach. The food. But, given the California COVID lockdown still in effect — I’d say we didn’t miss much in these 6 months.
So far so good. We’re all looking forward to summer in Park City as the winter season starts to wind down. I’ll provide a 12-month update post-summer when we get there.
Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear your feedback. Please post or share.
Memory Leak 