We diverted to Okemo today for a change. Okemo was an hour away from Mount Snow. The conditions at Okemo were slushy. I took my five-year-old son to the top. When we went back, I took him on the black instead of the green trail. He skied surprisingly well. He didn’t fall at all.

In the afternoon, I hit all the black trails on my own. I struggled on the moguls a bit. I did four runs and the back lift closed. The day seemed so short. I only did a few carvings on skis.

Tomorrow will be our last day. A week had gone by so fast. I will have to say goodbye to the season after tomorrow.

It was lightly rain all day. I switched to snowboarding and learned to carve. My favorite trail was Fallen Timber. It’s a mellowed black trail, not too steep and not too bumpy. I started to get into the carving groove, but my feet were too tired to bend and flex.

My wife and I went on a skiing date. We hit the green trails. She’s started to parallel on her skis. I am so happy seeing her making progress. I hope she enjoyed skiing.

We’re now resting and we’ll continue tomorrow. We only have two more days left to go. Damn, time flew by fast.

It rained all day. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop us. The conditions were slushy, but skiable. I had to use my legs more. After the first run trying to keep up with the kids on the long green trail, my legs were burning.

I am not sure if I am getting old or I just needed some liquors to kick in. I had a can of beer for lunch and I was recharged. My wife and I had a bit of a skiing date on the green trail then I headed to the back side. After 2 black runs, they closed down the trails. The ski patrol told me, “Time to go home.”

I took the long green back to the base. I took my time to carve and it felt great to see the train tracks I left behind. Even it was raining, we had a great time.

I switched to snowboard today. I did 4 runs on the long green with the younger kids. They skied way too fast for me. I couldn’t keep up on my snowboard. Maybe I was just too exhausted on the third day. My legs gave up.

In the afternoon, I went to the backside to do my runs on the black slopes. The older kids joined me for a few more runs before we headed home. We had the whole black trail to ourselves.

It was a great day. I got a good work out.

The conditions were great. The crowd was spared. We headed to Mount Snow around 10 am. We went to Long John first with Vương, my wife, and others. Although Vương enjoyed it, he was done after 2 runs.

I went to the back side with the older kids and my brother-in-law. I led them to the mogul terrain. The kids navigated their way down. My brother-in-law was struggling so I decided to cut to the blue trail. Unfortunately, it led us into a bigger mogul terrain. He had to slide down on his butt while I side-slipped my way down.

I did a few more runs on black and blue trails and it was already 4 pm. We headed back to the rental house to relax. We’ll do it again tomorrow.

I planned to drive to Mount Snow at 1 am on Saturday so we could get an extra skiing day, but it didn’t go too well. My wife was working until midnight and I wanted her to get some sleep. As a result we didn’t leave our house until 4 am. The rain was pouring almost the entire trip. As we were getting closer to Mount Snow, rain turned to icy rain.

Our Toyota Sienna LE couldn’t make it to the top of the hill. A local man drove by and offered to help. He reversed the minivan to the top then asked us where we were heading. He told us our car wouldn’t make it through the road we were on. He suggested that we headed back to the flatter road. We were doing fine until we had to take the small road to our rental place. Once again our minivan got stuck. A very nice couple helped us push through. I love Vermont people.

We arrived around 2:00 pm and checked in. Icy snow continued to fall; therefore, we didn’t go to Mount Snow. We just relaxed for the rest of the day. I was over-worried about our car. I hoped all that spinning and backward driving didn’t damage the transmission. I could barely sleep. I woke up around 2 am and tried to read about the transmission.

Around 7 am I tried to see if I could drive to Mount Snow, which is 1.5 miles away. I couldn’t back my car out. The front wheel kept spinning and rocked. I tried to press the gas slowly all the way, but the wheels were no longer spinning. I freaked out. Then again, my brother-in-law’s Honda Odyssey was also stuck. He said the TRAC system prevented the wheel from spinning.

I took my three older kids and their cousin to Mount Snow via the MOOver shuttle service. The conditions were great. We skied mostly blue and black trails. I snowboarded because I didn’t want to wear my heavy ski boots to the shuttle.

With a lack of sleep, shoveling snow in the morning, lack of food for lunch, and drinking some beer, I was exhausted after about 5 or 6 runs. We had a great time.

In the meantime, my wife, her sister, and her sister’s husband got both of our minivans out. I was so relieved. My mother had come through again with her hidden powers. I talked to her when we were stuck and both times people came to help. I also talked to her about the car being stuck and the transmission and we are OK now.

When it comes to content, I am pretty clueless. Content design is new to me. Even after reading this book, I don’t quite get it. I have always been a visual designer first. For content, I just want to blog. That’s it. I have no content strategy.

Dear LDHV Cub Families,

I concurred that phở gà was off the hook. Thanks to everyone who lent a hand in making all the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious dishes.

Big props to all the leaders for creating all the wonderful experiences for the kids as well as unforgettable memories for the parents. Your dedication and commitment to the kids are appreciated.

Most important of all, kudos to all the kiddos. Without their presence and participation, the parents wouldn’t have the opportunity to bond. I am one of the younger parents, but I have been with the Cubs the longest. Many parents have moved on to the Troops, but I am still here—and will be here for a while. My advice to the new parents is to take advantage of the activities while your kids are still Cubbies—unless you have tons of kids like I do.

Have a great day and enjoy your spring break. We’ll be in Vermont skiing and snowboarding to Lệ Quyên’s ballad remixes. LOL!

Yours truly,
Donny Trương

Dear Tonkin Voyage,

My name is Donny Truong and I created the “Bonjour Vietnam” video you uploaded to your YouTube account. The video also includes the Tonkin Voyage logo. You never asked for my permission to use the video; therefore, I kindly request that you take down the video, which is already existed on my YouTube account.

Thank you and looking forward to hearing back from you.

Donny Truong

Update: 12 minutes later I received a response from Tonkin Voyage:

Hello Trương,

I want to extend my sincerest apologies for the oversight in uploading your video. It has been removed now. Your video featured stunning imagery, and I truly appreciate your contribution. Thank you very much, and may you continue to find joy in your endeavors.

Thank you for the swift action. I appreciate it.

Tom Greenwood has demonstrated in his book that creating sustainable websites isn’t hard or impossible. In fact, it’s the opposite. If you have been following best practices in web design and development, such as prioritizing progressive enhancement, performance, security, and accessibility, you are already making sustainable webpages. Furthermore, Greenwood delves into the server side for sustainability including hosting, caching, and optimizing. Sustainable Web Design is an essential read for web professionals as well as web hobbyists.