Dr. Fortran

[JohnNichols]

Dear Dr. Fortran:

At least this consultation will not cost me the $30 copay for the usual Dr's appointments.

So I finally got back to Australia after 2 years in Texas.  The skiing, according to my cousins, was the best in the last two decades, so I took my daughter and went skiing. It was like finding an IDE that let you seamlessly link Fortran and Lisp. Wonderful.

So I am at Thredbo, I leave my daughter on the simple runs and move to Gun Barrel. Looks like the 40 mile Paris Gun from WWI. Black Diamond with a Most Difficult tag on the top of the run. Stand on top of a 5 storey building and look straight down, not quite as steep as Gun Barrel, but it is at least a soft landing - wind chill -22 degrees C, blowing ice particles and not a soul on the run (I wonder why). I make it to the bottom - ok I had to stop once to catch my breath. Stack it in the dip at the bottom - I am lying in the snow, skis buried to the boots in the hill, thought - bindings must be to tight did not release boots, breathing like there is no air, heart is pounding and then think I am having a heart attack - my first thought was of Dr. Fortran - thanks Dr. Fortran I took your advice, took a few deep breaths and then rested for a minute. Heart felt better and I could actually feel the O2 return to my brain.  20 minutes later I am again standing on my skis - takes a while to release from the position I was in and I still had the other half to face -

Finally on the bottom half - there is a guy on a snowboard half way down, he stands up and then falls forward onto this face, flips onto his back - stuck in an infinite do loop - very funny - but not for him I ski up behind him and point to the kiddy run - yes we Fortran programs are hard on those Basic Folks.

Get to the bottom and my daughter looks at me and says - you were only gone for 10 minutes, I say no at least 40 and she says no - ten.  Must have been in a OS2 Warp.

Thanks Doctor - you are the best

An old Fortran Skier.

[Steven_L_Intel1]

One can find inspiration in the most unusual places.

[JohnNichols]

T

[JohnNichols]

For those who purchased the Fortran mugs, - thank you - I received the final check.

The donations to the charities are appreciated - it took longer than I thought and I learnt a few lessons but it was worth it.

Regards

JMN

[DavidWhite]

Thanks, John.  Collected mine from Toronto a couple of weeks ago as I passed through.

Thanks greatly.

David

[Les_Neilson]

I've never been skiing. I'm no mug! (See what I did there? :-) )

But if I did I would stick to the kiddie slopes with my granddaughter. On second thoughts this is the 8-year old granddaughter who goes wall-climbing, zip-line riding, obstacle course racing and will be kayaking this summer. So maybe not, I may stick with the 2-year old grandson who runs around trying to do everything his older sister does. On third thoughts I will stick to snoozing in the garden.

Plenty of inspiration while snoozing.

Les

[JohnNichols]

Les:

I have been skiing for more than 50 years, so it is not as dangerous as it looks. I broke my stocks on the first day so I skied the rest of the day without them. Charlotte was horrified.  As long as you know your limitations you are ok. My daughter needed me so I spent most of my time on Friday Flat which is good to hone your skills, like not stopping and always facing downhill. (Harder than it looks I can tell you). It is flattish but fast. My daughter told me I needed waterproofs, but I said - not if you do not fall - I hate falling to hard to get up again.

As I ski I enjoy classifying the people I meet based on what type of computer programming language they would use most, think of it as a perverse 1 to 10 scale. On the bottom is Basic and at the top is LISP. 

JMN