Learning to Alpine Ski

Posted on February 17, 2014 by debbie

Murray is a self-confessed ski bum. Has skied since he was a teen, taught skiing for a number of years at Whistler, worked in Edmonton’s ski industry for 20 some years. I, on the other hand, do not ski. Until this year!

I got tired of being a backcountry widow and have decided that I want to go with Mur into the wild. One problem, I have to learn how to ski. Then I have to been brave enough to go out into the backcountry. Wait a minute, didn’t the trek on the West Coast Trail abolish all fear of the unknown?

I have been going to Snow Valley every week to ski with Murray, who is teaching me the fine art of pointing my hips down the hill while turning my legs and feet across the hill. Oh, and also keeping my shoulders also pointed down the hill! And “tipping” my knees into the hill to carve the ski into the hill. So many things to think about. Tough to learn a new sport in my mid fifties.

We ski today and Murray says I am doing pretty good. I think I can tell when my knees are pointing in the right direction as the skis grabs more. It feels good to be making progress. Today we skied down the steepest hill at Snow Valley and it wasn’t so bad. I kept it under control and didn’t allow my form to fall apart too much. Next week, we will introduce poling.

We have been talking about going to the mountains to resort ski so the runs are a tad bit longer. This is the next step and it will help improve my skiing as what I need now is mileage. We just have to pick a week and head out for a few days. Hopefully when it is warmer, not a balmy -25 C. Murray even said today that once I get the poles going, we could go into the backcountry! What??

Yesterday, I purchased a cool helmet and goggles from Sundance Ski Shop. J helped me and is super knowledgeable about the gear. After trying on a host of them, I got a Smith Sequel Matte Black helmet.

Smith Sequel Helmet

Smith Sequel Helmet

It took abit of trying to find goggles that fit my tiny face, but J persisted and we found a pair. I didn’t want dark lens because I like it bright. Luckily I discovered this riding on cloudy days – I wear sunglasses with an orangey lens rather than a dark lens. I also wanted to be able to wear the goggles with or without my glasses, so that eliminated quite a few. Pretty cool looking!

Scott Storm OTG Goggle

Scott Storm OTG Goggle

Last year I had rented skis, boots and poles a few times from Sundance, so this year before I started to ski in earnest, I purchased my own gear. Alex, one of the owners of the shop, fit me with boots and was patient, all knowing and amazing. I put my faith in her and they fit perfectly! Then it was easy to pick out skis and poles. Here is what I got…..

Dynastar Neva 74 Skis

Dynastar Neva 74 Skis

Nordica Transfire R3 Boots

Nordica Transfire R3 Boots

Dynastar Kerma Reveal Poles

Dynastar Kerma Reveal Poles

So I am outfitted with brand new gear, but I am wearing a hand me down jacket from Snow Valley and an old pair of ski pants from Alex’s personal stock. Next year I will spend the big bucks and buy a nice jacket and pants.

I am on my way to learning and participating in a new sport. And I have all the gear! Alpine skiing is now something that I do! Watch out!

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Virgin Gorda update

Posted on February 14, 2014 by murray

I think we are set. Way too far in advance but as I mentioned we are traveling at Easter and also the time of many an American school spring break. We must be cognizant of the timing and therefore have booked absolutely everything. We previously mentioned we should get away from this habit and try to do things in a more organic manner but it has not worked out that way.

Now we sit and wait. Last night we reviewed our bookings, making sure all of our flights jibed with each other and our hotel reservations. After missing the flight in Bangkok we decided it was our lack of checking that was the cause of our mishap and we had to review our plans more. On this trip we have a flight that leaves near midnight again and we don’t want to be sleeping restlessly while the plane is taking off from the airport.

There are minor decisions to make like what specific sites we are to dive. BVI contacted us with a couple of proposals outlining the possibilities and costs to charter a boat as a group and visit some of the more far fetched dive sites. This may be our one and only trip to this island so I think it would make good sense to see what is a bit farther afield.

I will keep the blog updated but frankly I do not see anything of relevance coming up in the near future. It is time to shift our focus to a new trip we expect to take around the first of July with our scuba diving school teacher and other friends.

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Mistaya Backcountry Lodge

Posted on February 13, 2014 by murray

Mistaya Lodge SkiingMonday. It is -34 and here we sit. I have skied when it was this cold and it is not fun and I am old enough now to realize that no matter how much I try it will be nothing but labour to go out today. The sun has just crested the mountains and we are all standing at the thermometer watching the numbers shoot up. HA.

Mistaya Lodge SkiingYesterday, T and I had the company of the resident guide, D. He drags our butts up and down some really good terrain. This is T’s first day skiing this year and he is working on getting back his confidence but he skis well and we have a great day. It has not snowed in quite a few days and the snow is challenging in places, other spots it is great. We walk and ski for 4.5 hours with only a 15 minute break. D doesn’t seem bothered by the distance but T and I are knackered.

Sunday is a poor day from a skiing aspect. We arrive, have lunch and head out trying to find West Bowl. We never do find the run and only get a few turns on the way back to the lodge.

At noon we poke our noses outside the door and start our walk up. We aren’t going far; we want to be close in case the cold is not conducive to outdoor recreation. As we ascend, the temperature moderates and by the time we reach the highest point of our trip it is warm enough for me to take my hand out of my glove to adjust the camera. The snow is iffy, sun affected and wind blown. Somehow I manage to read the snow correctly and have quite a good run.

Mistaya Lodge SkiingThursday brought a good surprise. I am off in the afternoon with B. He just wants to go to the top of the next ridge and see what there is to see. I am not much into the touring for touring’s sake but I am going along anyway. B needs a partner and I need a place to go. We are heading for an existing uptrack but miss it and set our own track to the top. On the way up the snow looks and feels skiable. At the top of the knoll we get a different view from yesterday but to go beyond would not be good use of time as the ridge we can get to is the same as the one we viewed previously. We turn our skis down, the run is steep, and the snow is great. Didn’t think I would ski at all and have one of the best runs I have had all week.

Mistaya Lodge SkiingFriday we awake to a balmy -25C. Starting the day 7C degrees warmer should make for a longer day. Strange that as we get more tired we get the opportunity to ski ALL day long. Short trip and back to the lodge for lunch. The usual procedure is to go out for the entire day and eat lunch in a nice sunny spot, it is not possible to go far when you return to home base at noon. The trip is to Wishbone Moraine not a long run but again the snow is good and the trip is well worth it. It’s steep, not scary but steep enough to notice.  The afternoon is a tour to the top of Mista Vista. It is a really nice view from there and the highest point we have gone; with the split trip days we cannot travel big distances.

Mistaya Lodge SkiingIt is amazing how consistently cold the weather has been all week long. It has been -30 at 6am every day. Today we hope it will warm quickly and significantly. Even though I expect the weather to be warmer I think it will still be a split trip day.  This morning I team up with D again and we go to the Wishbone Moraine and up to a place he does not frequent except when the avalanche danger is extremely low, the Cobra. It is quite steep and the wind has deposited a lot of snow in the area so although the snow is not deep it is also not wind affected and is very skiable. The last run is to the area I went to at the start of the week . The two Aussies, P & H, and H and I go north and head for a run I have eyed since we walked by it. The snow is good and the turns are not too tricky and well within the ability of the group. We all make it down, I enjoy it and I think the others do too. 

Mistaya Lodge Skiing

The group is amazingly compatible. We all knew 3 or 4 of the others but only a couple of the folks knew everybody before we arrived.  People from literally around the world, Australia and Aus/England, Victoria, Phuket, Banff, Calgary and Edmonton.  All skiers of varying ability but all interested in the experience a backcountry cabin can provide.

Mistaya Lodge is first class, the operation is first class, the owners and staff are fantastic. D, the live in guide and owner is a perfect host. The terrain is challenging but perfectly skiable, the views are other worldly. We didn’t have any new snow while we were here but with a foot or two it can only be better than I have experienced.  Come here any time and you will enjoy the time spent.

Mistaya Lodge Skiing

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A Stop in Miami, Florida

Posted on January 30, 2014 by debbie

When looking at our long haul flights from Edmonton we have a choice of either flying through Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Knowing we might spend a few days in the city, I do some preliminary research and decide Miami is the better option. Why? Art Deco!

In the 1930s and ’40s the second wave of Art Deco hit Miami and thrived. The first wave was in Paris in the 1920s and then spread throughout the world. New York’s Empire State Building and Chrysler Building are perfect examples of Art Deco. Miami Beach’s streets are lined with Art Deco buildings that are now hotels, restaurants and boutiques.

We chose The Colony Hotel as our home while in Miami.

I find an Art Deco Walking Tour from National Geographic featuring a number of the historic buildings along Ocean Drive. The Miami website also has info.

I also stumble across a number of cultural venues that I keep tabs on for concerts and exhibits happening while we are in Miami. The New World Symphony lists concerts on the Saturday and Sunday nights that we are there. I check in on The Fillmore for their concerts – so far nothing. We will take a day to go into Miami downtown but I haven’t yet researched that yet.

I am quite excited to wander the avenues with my camera capturing the colors and the curves of the Art Deco movement in Miami and taking in some culture too!

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Myanmar and Maldives Photos are Posted!

Posted on January 27, 2014 by debbie

I have posted photos of our fall trip to Myanmar, the Maldives, Bangkok and Narita on the blog. Click on Photos on the main menu bar. There are four Photosets  for this trip:

Bangkok, Thailand 2013

Maldives 2013

Myanmar 2013

Narita, Japan 2013

Click on the title of the photoset you would like to view and then click on the first photo. To scroll through the photos, click on the word “NEXT” on the right hand side of each photo. There may be more than one page of photos if I have loaded lots of photos.

Enjoy!

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First Ski Walk of 2014 in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

Posted on January 26, 2014 by murray

No expectations. That’s the rule. If I don’t have any expectations then they are always exceeded. The skiing in the Canadian Rocky Mountains has not been great so far this year. All the snow has fallen on Edmonton and Calgary and bypassed the peaks to the west. I got word from Banff that there are a few turns to be had so I pack up and go. I’m keeping an open mind knowing a few turns are better than none.

Wednesday morning B, D and I head out. We are going west of Lake Louise to Narao, a mountain near Lake O’Hara.

The trail starts on the O’Hara Lake road. It is easy climbing. There has been a tiller on it making tracks for XC skiing, so no trail breaking is required. At km 2 we duck into the woods and follow an uptrack set a few days previous. Again, it is not steep and is easy to follow. Since the travel is easy B wants to go to the treeline. He has not been there this year and wants to survey the ski conditions. We push on and with a few rest stops we reach our destination about 1 pm.

Narao

Narao

Lunch. Pack down a small area, plunk our butts in the snow and bring on the feast. Well, sort of, with no Sherpas we carry what we eat and lunch is usually modest but effective. A sandwich, some chocolate, a hot drink or water and if I really feel crazy I will carry a Coke. I think I burn quite a few calories walking up hill for 3 hours, I have never bothered to do any calculations, so I can pretty much eat what I want and not feel guilty.

The first three turns are shaky, it is steep, I am unsure of the snow consistency, and the trees are tight. 20 turns later I know what the snow has to offer, the trees thin and the skiing is wonderful. There are glades (opening in the trees) 10 to 15 turns long and it is easy to zip between a couple of trees and find the next glade. The snow is boot top and has a very secure base so I’m not breaking thru. The skiing is great. 3 hrs up and ½ hour down but what a glorious ½ hour. It is damn near impossible to get skiing this good at a resort but I consistently get this type of skiing in the backcountry. B is tired and we dispense with a second trek but it is a good day. We get back to town early compared to one of our usual outings.

Thursday is a new day but it starts out the same. 2 Egg McMuffins at McD’s, a short trip from Canmore to Banff and hook with B for one more day. D is heading out again but this time we are accompanied by his wife Do. We are headed for a place not on the regular backcountry circuit. I am sworn to secrecy so I will refer to it as Mountain X.

Cathedral

Waiting for a train to pass

Again the start of the uptrack is easy travel. A couple of snowshoers have packed a trail ahead of us and their track makes for an easy walk. When we depart their footsteps the snow is not deep and the base is very supportive so even breaking our own trail is relatively easy. (I should talk, D broke the entire morning, not that I do not offer but he wants to and he knows the way.) The track does get steep a couple of times but these pitches are short and we are up them quite quickly. Our trek to our high point does not take as long as it did yesterday. We reach an altitude where the snow is wind affected so we halt our upward trek.

Our View

Our View

All the way up I am noticing nice wide glades that I should be able to connect one after the other. Skins off, poles shortened, pant sides zipped, boots changed from walk to ski and bindings rotated to heel lock down position.  Turn the skis down and again it becomes acutely apparent why we walk up hill for hours on end to ski. The snow is great. Four or five turns, slide between a couple of trees and few more turns right thru a small break and there is space long enough for 15 turns. I could ski non stop most of the way down but in the backcountry we have to stop every once in a while and group up. There is always the possibility of one of us piling up and getting hurt or ending up head down in a tree well and it is best if we only have a small climb back to rescue.

Today we ski to where the trees get thicker, stop, skin up and climb again for a second try. Wa hoo! I don’t know what it is that skiing stimulates but it sure is a cheap way to get high. The second ascent is only the last third of our original track in so it does not take long. The skiing is just as good the second time down.

J on the downrun

B on the downrun

I left Edmonton thinking I would ski but did not think it would be great. No expectations. Boy, were my expectations exceeded. I will most certainly be a return customer.

Homebound

View from the highway heading home

Next stop, Mistaya Lodge.

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Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Posted on January 21, 2014 by murray

We are off to Virgin Gorda, in the British Virgin Islands, to scuba dive and have been truly negligent in our documenting of the progress. Our New York friends are involved. They want to do their yearly trip to the Caribbean and we are meeting them. We try to go some place different each time and the routing to get to these places is getting more complicated as we go to more remote islands.

I had to get onto Google Maps to find out where Virgin Gorda is located! Virgin Gorda is part of the British Virgin Islands and is east of the Dominican Republic and San Juan, Porto Rico. BVI is made up of 4 main  islands, the largest being Tortola, where the capital is. Virgin Gorda is the third largest island and is only about 20 sq km in area. Tiny!

The New York group has found appropriate accommodation; a villa with 5 bedrooms and a pool. The Coconut Grove is not located in the island’s only town (Spanish Town) but is on Leverick Bay, close to beaches and a jetty where the dive shops will pick us up. It is rather extravagant but a nice place that should do us well. We will be able to do breakfast on our own and because the dive boat leaves at 8 am, eating in will alleviate that morning rush. After a good amount of searching we were able to find 5 couples; filling the house and keeping the cost reasonable.

Virgin Gorda is small but not very densely built so we will require vehicles. For such a small place there are many car rental agencies and it is my job to procure a couple of cars so we can gad about frequenting the beaches and discover places to eat dinner. The choice of rental companies is made quite easy when I email 4 of them for info and quotes and only one responds. It is nice that the only group to get back to me has very good reviews on Trip Advisor. After a couple of more emails they prove to be competent and we will be renting a small car and a larger SUV from Mahogany Rentals. We thought it best to have a larger SUV so if the we want to split up we could have most of the group in one car going, say, east while the other car goes west.

This trip will be over the Easter holidays so we did feel it best to book with a dive shop so we are not caught out. There are not many dive operators on the island. We contact two. Both seem like good possibilities and I don’t think we can make a bad choice with either one. After a couple of emails we choose to dive with Dive BVI. They have been operating on Virgin Gorda for a long time, the reviews are good, they are very accommodating and I am quite sure we have chosen a good outfit.

Getting there. Ah, the airlines, don’t we love the airlines. As I said above it is not easy to get to some of these islands. If you go onto any airline web site and type in the departure city as Edmonton and the destination as Virgin Gorda you will come up with nada. This means the tickets have to be booked separately from one another. (One day I must ask a travel agent if they are able to connect up all the tickets.) This, as we have learned, is not the best strategy for keeping everything in line from the airline companies point of view. When one of the airlines decides they are going to make a change, their prerogative it seems, they have no compassion for us when their plans do not jive with ours. Their response to the fact that we book all of our flights on our own, and them changing the flight time does not allow us enough time to make a connection; was too bad so sad, you can rebook by paying the difference in fares or you can have a full refund.

That aside we start by booking our long haul flights. Since Air Canada is on our S**t list I am trying to use up our Aeroplan points and make their life as miserable as possible. The flight times and routing for points are of course terrible so we are prepared to make some sacrifices to get what the airlines portrays as “FREE” flights. I happen to find a couple of business class seats for less than the points I have on hand. The flight dates are not the ones we need but we can make a holiday of it and spend a couple of extra days on Virgin Gorda beforehand and a few days in Miami on the tail end. We have never been to Miami and so visiting this southern holiday mecca will be a bonus.

We now have to travel from Miami, where our long haul flight ends, to the isle a few hundred kilometres to the southeast. In the end there is one combination that suits our timing. We can connect with an American Airlines flight in Miami to San Juan and then mesh with an Air Sunshine flight to Virgin Gorda. Timing is paramount. We have exactly enough time to clear the appropriate authorities and check in to make the Virgin Gorda flight. Going home is easier and the flights give us plenty of time to make connections. We go ahead book the airplane rides and accommodations around those times.

About two weeks after we have things settled we get an email from AA explaining how they have rescheduled our Miami/San Juan flight. The time is only out by 40 minutes but it is a critical 40 minutes. The Virgin Gorda airport closes at sundown and the Air Sunshine plane must be in the air no later than 5 pm. They do not wait for anyone! Now we don’t have enough time to make our connection in San Juan. Screwed.  As I explained AA is of no help. They, as Air Canada, have other priorities than their customer. It ends up costing us $100 to make changes to our Air Sunshine flight and a night in San Juan rather than on Virgin Gorda, but we able to accommodate the change and are at this point back on track.

We are now up to date with our preparations for the next trip. Scuba diving in the British Virgin Islands!

PS  We will try harder to maintain some sort of continuity from this point forth. Thanks for your patience.

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Choke Cough Ski

Posted on January 17, 2014 by debbie

If you read the blog you will know that I have amazing luck with the weather. When we need dry it usually is, when we need warm it usually is. This last weekend I needed snow and OMG, it snowed.

I leave Thursday for Valemount, BC for two days of cat skiing with Cariboo Snowcat Skiing. The weather calls for snow and it has to snow or the skiing will be marginal. It snows on and off through Wednesday and Thursday. When we arrive on Friday morn the guide, Bryce, tells us we are the second group of the year. There is enough snow to ski but it is the least amount of snow he has seen in the 8 years he has worked there.

group 2

The skiing is good, real good. The terrain and flora telegraph through the thin snow cover but we ski boot top powder all day and the rolling surface makes for interesting turns and the challenge keeps my interest. I am never complacent and have to pay attention the entire time.

long view 1Then, Saturday morn I go outside to load the car for the trip home after the ski day. I walk though the automatic doors and step into a foot of snow. The temperature is about 0 C and the snow is wet but it is deep and I am standing a few thousand feet below where we are going to ski today. I brush off the car and head in for breakfast. On the way to the restaurant I stop by a few other folks’ rooms and tell them to look outside. I can feel the anticipation build as soon as there is a crack in the drapes big enough to realize what is out there.

There is a lot chatter at breakfast. We eat fast and head for the cars in record time. When I arrive at the Rav4 there is another inch of snow that has accumulated in the short time it took to eat a couple of pieces of French Toast and a few pieces of bacon.

The trip up the mountain, first by 4X4 and then on the cat seems to take an inordinate amount of time. The avalanche danger is high and the guides need time to do their due diligence. Our first run is on a shorter run that should be stable. While we ski it, the other guide treks up further and digs a pit to check out the snow pack.

We gear up and point the skis down. Within 2 turns we are eating said snow as it flies up into our face. Each turn we rise up high in the powder and then sink back down. We don’t breathe when we have settled down because if we do we suck in so much of the floating powder we choke. On one of our rest stops I push my pole in to see how deep the snow really is. It completely disappears; 42” deep. Over the day we ski several other runs and the snow depth varies from mid thigh to over a meter. Every run is epic. I ski a lot and there are days in a skiers life where there is this much snow to ski, but they are few, very few. A quick calculation tells me I have around 1,200 ski days and less than 10 with snow as deep and good as today.

long view 2

The area owner, Terry, joins us for the last run. It is the longest run of the day and it has the deepest snow we have skied so far. I start behind the guide on the first pitch. When we pause to let the others catch up I know there is smile on my face is ear to ear. As each of the other skiers stop they are showing each and every one of their teeth. Terry glides to a stop just above me and his grin is no smaller than the rest ours. It is truly one of the best days any of us has had on skis.

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Ski Season Starts

Posted on January 9, 2014 by murray

My first trip to the mountains this year is to go cat skiing. There is not much snow in the Rockies so it has not been worth the trouble to travel that far. I have stayed home and cross country skied since the beginning of December.

One of the local ski shops, Sundance Ski and Snowboard Shop, is running a trip to Valemount, BC to cat ski. For those unfamiliar, cat skiing is like backcountry skiing without the walking. A snow cat, with us as passengers, makes the up track and we make the down tracks. Way more expensive but also way more productive as far as powder skied in a day. The couple of times I have participated in the past I think I skied 8 or 9 times the vertical of a day on foot in the backcountry.

According to Environment Canada the weekend is suppose to be warm so clothing should not be difficult. I dress more like a day at a resort with insulated pants and a heavier jacket. More than I would wear touring. One produces a lot more heat climbing the side of a mountain than with a cat doing the uphill part. Skiing down is not enough work to keep one warm on a cold day. I plan on taking lots of cold weather gear because we all know how trustworthy the weather forecast can be and I do not want to get caught out. I would rather be far to warm than too cold.

backcountry ski boots

My backcountry ski boots

I am taking my backcountry ski gear though. I have a pair of fat skis that, because of the weight, I rarely hike with. So I am going to use those this weekend. They have reverse camber tip and tail that I find useless on the piste so hopefully there is a ton of snow to make use of their ability to float.

backcountry skis

My backcountry skis for this trip

I will also dispense with a lot of the other gear I usually carry up the mountain. In my backcountry pack I carry things useful if we get caught and have to spend the night out of doors. Things like a silver blanket, matches and candles, a sweater, a bivy sack, and extra power bars. These will all remain at home. I will however carry my probe and shovel, if there is a snow slide and I am fortunate enough to be on the topside I will feel useless if I cannot help to extricate someone that has been covered.

Off I go.

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Asian Observations – Cell Phones

Posted on December 14, 2013 by murray

I don’t own a cell phone. My excuse is that I have no need to be in contact with anyone 24/7 and if someone wants to contact me, leave me a message, I will be home sometime and return their call. I continue to live in my world and I quite like it there.

Because I do not own a cell phone, many things about them are a mystery to me. Like why, at the intermission of a concert or play, before even the lights come up there are hundreds of faces lit by the incidental light of the face owner’s cell. Is every one of those people expecting a message important enough that they might have to leave the play early, or is the play so bad that any message requiring them to leave would be gladly accepted? If they are not expecting an important message, why not wait till the end of the performance, there will be nothing done about the contents of the message anyway so who gives two hoots what it says. I’m fairly sure the cell phone is the tactile object people need to fulfill what ever need the cigarette used to soothe. They are definitely addictive, which is another reason I want nothing to do with them. 

Besides giving me a chance to rant, this post is about an observation I made while traveling Asia. There are as many folks there who own cell phones as there are in North America. I presume they are much cheaper in Asia because the people do not have as much disposable income as we have. So either they are giving up a meal a week or the cost of a phone and its operation is much less expensive.

What I noticed is how quiet the people talk on their phones. I could be standing right next to someone on the phone and, besides the fact I did not understand the language, could not make out what they were saying. In Canada when some is on their cell phone, no matter if they are on the street corner or at a funeral, everyone within 30M knows how their sister came through her pancreas operation and that she will still be able to bear a child. Frankly I don’t want to know about the guy’s sister and the distraction is usually interrupting a perfectly good day dream.

I think North Americans could learn a lesson from the Asians and drop their self important loud cell phone voices and leave the rest of us to our own world. I, for one, have no need to share my world with strangers that are probably not interested and do not need unsolicited interruptions of my own musings. I am not likely to own a cell soon but if for some reason I must acquire one I am going to remember where I am when talking and try to take a page from Asian manners and keep the call’s contents to the caller and me.

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