So is anyone else getting excited about winter?? I am an avid skier living in one of the best places in the country....Park City Utah. I have always been drawn to the ski town atmosphere, I guess it is just in my blood. Earlier in my life, late teens through my twenties, It was much easier to be a ski bum. Now I find it to be a constant struggle to keep the balance between Skiing and family. I think I am on the cusp of admitting that I am getting older, and doing everything to avoid that decision... I want to know why it seams that once you turn 30 it seams that we are slowly phased out of mainstream America... We all still have plenty of life left, and now most of us are wiser now so why not enjoy life while we still have our health? It seams as though teenagers and twentysomethings control alot of our decisions as consumers. Did you ever surf the tv channels and wonder if the only people watching tv are teenage girls? Its' time to take a stand and start promoting family and responsibility in our lives... Our culture is slowly self destructing all around us and no one can figure out how to stop or reverse it. Truth is that there is no easy fix, it is going to have to start with the children of this country. The reason our economy was better years ago is partly because our generation was more responsible and harder working. Kids today are getting smarter but not always directing it in the best way. Media and general influences on today's youth are geared at two things, random sex and partying. I think that people over thirty are begining to sleepwalk through life and not speak out.. The way we speak out is through our wallets, buy things you like and not just toys or Hannah Montana stuff. We can still spoil our kids but we need stuff too. Think about how much consumers spend on goods in a year and how much of the popular items are made in other countries. Take Christmas for example,,the popular gifts are always the same...Electronics, toys, video games etc..Where do you think all that stuff comes from??Granted we need stores here in the US to sell that stuff, which in turn makes $ and creates jobs but now that internet shopping is so popular retail stores are dying out. Why buy something down the street when you can buy it online for cheaper with no sales tax??which is another hit to the state economy, how much revenue do you think that the individual states are losing due to strictly people buying stuff online so they don't have to pay a rediculous sales tax..especially on big ticket items. I know it's hard but as the digital world gets more vast, we as consumers have to buy american, buy stuff for ourselves and take our families out of the house and do activities besides sit on the computer all day.. Granted I am @ mine right now but I am about to go fly a kite with my son so peace........