>That definitely would have been fun. Too bad I couldn't get it to work out.
>
>Are you excited about the Olympics coming to your back yard?
>
> -cjh
>

Curtis,

Ehh.. I'm actually kind of ambivalent but I do think it will have some good benefits.

First of all, the local population of LDS (Latter Day Saints - I'm not one BTW so be sure to take what I say with a grain of salt - or antacid *G*) sometimes seems to me to be a little too inward looking. As a religious system the notion of being 'picked on' seems to me as a casual and outside observer seems to often get in the way of what I would think of as clear thinking. Not that other groups don't do the same; they do. I just think it's fundamentally unhealthy.

Probably in the area of alcohol availability and consumption will this be the most felt. They have state-run liquor stores and club membership requirements for the public consumption of alcohol. While I'm not a drinker this strikes me as being quite impractical when you think of the tens of thousands of people who will descend on the area who are and make up for me. *g* I think there's going to be a considerable culture shock for many of those who live insulated lives here. I expect some locals to pipe up and say something really stupid about this in a couple years and make everyone mad. *g* As I've mentioned before apparently there are some EXCELLENT brewery pubs here. At least one is in Park City and I expect they are salivating at the potential earnings for those 2-3 weeks.

OTOH, with their church missionary program there is certainly no lack of individuals who are aware of other cultures here. It's a real paradox and a curiosity to me. One benefit to this will be that there should be a much easier time finding translators as these young folks who go out recruiting for their church more often than not learn the local language fluently. This will be good.

The notion of having a high moral character is much more accepted here than say in NO. *G* With that you get both those who genuinely want it and those who self-righteously think they have it (and you don't and don't forget it! *G*). Still, this is IMO a good thing.

It was this sense of moral character that led the local officials to publicly disclose all this stuff about the Olympic scandal. They knew they were going to take the hit but they went ahead anyway and I think that in the long run this can only help to benefit the entire Olympic process. I admire some of the local folks that others may never hear of from the national media who had the courage to stand up to the potential loss of BILLIONS and bring all this to light. We need to hear more from folks like that.

Traffic could be a problem only because a lot of the local folks simply do not know how to drive on freeways. And many are just plain rude to boot. I have to say, as someone who learned to drive in Southern California that I've never seen a ruder bunch than around here. I don't quite get it but my wife who is from here will say the same thing. OTOH, they are currently (and quite successfuly I might add) reconstructing essentially the entire freeway system. The father of one of my buddies at work, who works for UDOT (Utah Dept of Trans) told Paul that this is THE LARGEST freeway construction EVER where people are still driving on the freeway. It's been facinating to watch. They're about 1/2 of the way through and should be finished by 2002.

Housing will be a little tight I'd think. Karol and I are hoping to be in a new home by then so if any of our Fox buddies, family and friends need a place to stay I'm hoping to have one.

As far as the scenery goes I have never been anywhere else where the scenery literally took my breath away. I have had such an experience here when I was in the southern part of the state. Truly breathtaking scenery. If anyone reading this is planning to visit please give yourself a few extra days to rent a car and take a quick tour of the state.

For those skiers among you I can only repeat what I've been told; that the powdery snow of Utah is absolutely the best in the world. Now I know those Coloradans are seeing red right now *BG* but that's what I've been told. I had one fellow who said that when he would ski on fresh powder that it would come up to his chest as he went downhill and that it was like floating on a cloud. Not being a skier I can only imagine what that would be like.

So, all in all I expect it to be good for the local economy, good for the tendency of the locals to be insular in their thinking processes, good for the outsiders to find out that not everyone here is weird (except those computer guys! *bg*) even though the locals can have a tendency to cultural flat sides.

HTH,
Best,

DD

Best,


DD

A man is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep for that which he cannot lose.
Everything I don't understand must be easy!
The difficulty of any task is measured by the capacity of the agent performing the work.