SederSkier Seven

Thoughts for the week ending on August 14th, 2021

USSPC for the Czech Republic?

In doing some research for future articles, I came across this brand. Cool name, cool concept – seems like a ‘little guy’ company that is trying to make quality poles. Everything is made in the Czech Republic. Reminded me of a certain pole company based in the US….Now, USSPC just need to figure out how to get an athlete on the VSC circuit…Another brand, SixTen, does not have a site, but sponsors a Swedish skier. I’m guessing they’re named after the great Sixten Jernberg?

Letsrun email update

Last week I sent an email to letsrun. Here was their response:

Ryan,

Thanks for sharing. I might mention this on our podcast. The only caveat with the high jump tie is the guys are really good friends. Say Robert and I were high jumpers and we got to end of the Olympcis and they said “you can tie”. I might be fine with it for whatever reason as we’re so close. In the men’s marathon the 2nd place guy encouraged the 3rd place guy. Now fortunately they didn’t tie but they were taking enjoyment in each others success.  Say they had run hard into the line and they said “you all tied”. We can now break the tie with a sprint off or you can both tie.  I’m actually fine with them tieing.

But Simon Biles and others need to learn what competition is about. 
–Weldon

When will I ever use this?

Remember sitting in pre-algebra or reading Shakespeare and thinking, “When will I ever use this?” I love learning, and admittedly, I thought those things. Nowadays, the sentiment is stronger; we dismiss the importance of college, know one even knows what classical education is, and we have programs for 15-year olds to enter the workforce as freshmen and start learning trades immediately. The argument for the latter is that some aren’t meant for college, they know what tradework or career they’d like to do, and/or they need to financially support their family. This is a sticky situation, but I would argue by recommending that solution, we don’t actually give them the best route.

The point of education – at all levels – is to strengthen the brain muscle. If you want to be a great musician, you should try to pass the A.P. test in Calculus. If you want to become a writer, keep trying to improve your understanding of molecular biology. At the end of the day, the most important skill you will need to be successful in any career is the ability to utilize your brain’s capacity to adapt, learn, grow, and engage. If you stretched it out during your formative years (anything before 21, but especially in the middle and high school grades), your capacity and functioning will be much greater than the student who simply thought, “You know what, I know I want to work in finance, so I don’t need to learn this grammar stuff….”

It turns out, I have developed a culturally relevant response to this type of whining. You know those people on Twitter who don’t understand the concept of consistency in argumentation? They are the ones who never moved beyond asking, “When am I ever going to use this?”

Mastery of content is more important than the actual content. You probably won’t need to quote Shakespeare, but the brain power you developed from mastering it will be something you absolutely will need.

Recently, I was challenged to apply this to my theology of family. I was starting to wonder what the point was of sending young Christian girls off to secular colleges. Wouldn’t it be better to train them up in the admonition of the Lord, focus on their theology so they can be the guardians of the home? Well, if I’m going to be consistent, what I should argue for is this: Women should go out and get PhD’s if they can. Being a mom is a full-time job – one which has a greater impact on society as the President of the United States. If anyone should have the highest functioning brain power – it is perhaps them. Men may build our societies as leaders in that sphere, but women dictate the direction by being the teachers and leaders of the family unit. This is why it is true that if you destroy the family, you will destroy the society. If you cripple the head of the family, you are well on your way. So, women – get as much education as you can – then, apply it within the Biblical mandate.

Fasterskier.com article has me confused…

Can someone tell me what this article is about? It begins by making me believe I’m going to read about how to keep my pooch happy, nutritionally, while I’m skiing. Ok, good enough….Ajee is thrilled. Then, despite having to work around numerous typos, grammatical errors, etc., we are left somewhat confused as to the thesis/point of the entire work.

I will say this: if the linked article is the product of a young, aspiring writer, feel free to dismiss everything here. I think newspapers, magazines, and online print entities should make an effort to maintain high standards, even for young writers, but I respect them for giving someone who is learning the ropes a chance to get published. That being said….

I have spent upwards of 40-50 hours on submissions to Fasterskier – between interviews, research, writing, and editing – sometimes without even garnering a courtesy reply/email. I don’t mean to bash the writer of this – I make plenty of errors even when I do proofread vigorously – but I’m curious as to what the standard is for what makes it into print at Fasterskier. I mean, they can decide what they want … Mentioning this probably will not benefit me at all, but as the Unofficial Official Ambassador for Nordic Journalism in Leadville, Colorado, I felt compelled to call them out.

…speaking of twitter

I tried, for the first time, to respond to a tweet. Erin Strout, and author for Outside and Women’s Running, would like children to be masked. Based on the John Hopkins research on children and the virus, I don’t really think this idea is founded in ‘science,’ as people are wont to say these days.

You can see the interaction here.…I was in the minority, as you may have predicted…

United States Postal Service Craziness

Recently, I tried to get employment at a post office that is so desperately understaffed, they are starting to tie letters to carry pigeons who poop on the roof. Turns out, the process was so contrived, I couldn’t work there even if my desire to work there outweighed one to work at Sports Illustrated. I’ll give the story on the next Seder-Skier Podcast…

James White preaches to about 40 people

I drove to Boulder, Colorado last Sunday to worship with South Boulder Bible Church and listen to renowned theologian, author of dozens of books, radio show host of 30+ years, and debater of the ages, James White. His programs and books have been instrumental in shaping my theology in the past 5-6 years, and, as he is an avid cyclist, I feel appropriate listening to the Dividing Line while I ride. My wife and I weren’t sure what to expect, but I don’t think our feelings of being in the presence of a celebrity – even a ‘Christian’ celebrity would be accompanied by a tiny congregation.

Dr. White gave a 45-50 minute sermon – a powerful, beautifully exegeted talk on Matthew 11:25-30 to the group of about 40-50 people. Afterwards, I introduced myself to him as he chatted with members of the church for roughly an hour. “Well, I better get going,” he said, as if he was just another guy in the church. Then he hopped into his truck and drove back to the camper he is using to drive himself from Arizona to Idaho and back.

It made me think – what other ‘big name’ guy would do this? Drive himself in an RV 3,000+ miles and stop to preach to 40-50 people at a time? Like many Dividing Line listeners, I’ve had moments of frustration recently as Dr. White can’t seem to stop the gloom and doom, end-of-the-world tone. This gave me a new hope in the guy, though. He cares, first and foremost, on accurate representation and defense of the truth and authority of scripture, and he is going to proclaim that to all people – no matter the crowd size.

That’s all folks….

See you on the Seder-Skier Podcast soon….

-SederSkier.com Racing Team