Rupprecht Blog: July 2008

Not much new happening...for the 24th of July we took off and went up to Park City and stayed a few days at the Canyons Resort. We had planned on going camping, but a very persistent telemarketer had been badgering Michelle for weeks, insisting we come up to the Canyons and listen to a sales pitch on "time share ownership". Now, nobody hates these things more than me. I went to one about 10 years ago, and committed that I would never go to another. After the 8th phone call, Michelle convinced the guy to give us two free nights at the resort immediately after the pitch. So I relented and we went up. We sit down with the sales person (George Williamson) and as we introduce ourselves, I immediately commenced to inform him that I was in no way interested, that if he wanted to just give me my two nights, and perhaps move on to someone who was actually interested in a time share, that it would be alright by me. He felt that after his pitch I would have a different opinion, and I told him that he had been warned. He was actually a very interesting man...after he had probed us for information about what kind of vacations we enjoyed (I told him that we didn't vacation, only "camped"). I asked him what kind of adventures he had been on...it turns out that he had spent two years on a sailboat sailing around the world back in '83, among other really cool adventures (restaurateur, finished 174th at the 2009 World Series of Poker, among others!). One of his daughters is an actress in CA. So it turned out that we mostly talked about him. Every time he got 5 minutes into his pitch, I would throw out something like "OK that's cool...let's go back to this sailing trip...." and we would talk about these cool adventures. Here is a sample of our dialogue..... George: Well, would you ever like to go to Hawaii? James: No. It's too far. George: How about Europe? James: Oh, yes! I served my mission there! Does the timeshare cover airline tickets? George: Oh, no. James: Well.....I am afraid that's a problem...so, what islands did you stop at on your round-the-globe sailing trip? George: How about we take a quick tour of the property and get you on your way? I was genuinely intrigued. In the end, everyone loves to talk about themselves, and George was no exception. I had told him that I wasn't interested...I am in Sales, and I have a pretty good understanding of sales pitches, sales questions (Shaun Steel, arguably one of the best Sales people I have ever been around is my mentor/sinse/Jedi master) and I really don't like to spin my wheels with people who are there for the free HP camera, etc., so I would just as soon give them the free shwag and move onto someone who could make me some money. I did empathize with him; he is simply trying to make a living. Very cool guy!

He was a really interesting guy though! We even talked religion. Learn more about George here:

http://www.pokerpages.com/players/profiles/115430/george-williamson.htm

http://www.edesber.com/PDFs/JambalyaParkRecord02-14-1998.pdf

After checking in, we didn't do much but hang out at the pool (see previous posts...my girls are part waterdog). We did go up to Park City and ride the Alpine Slide and Alpine Coaster.

Sorry, no pictures. In my haste to escape the heat of the valley I forgot the camera.

4th of July weekend was fun-packed and busy. Friday started off with the parade in the morning, followed by a neighborhood barbeque with the Otts, Holmes, and Kupiec families. We had a great time just hanging out, eating, quoting movies, and lighting/watching fireworks.

We also took the annual trip up to Bear Lake with the Hunts, Steels, and Glovers. Our good friends the Hunts have in-laws that live right on the lake. We go up every year to waterski and just hang out. Great friends from our South Jordan ward. There are a couple houses for sale in our old neighborhood, and they about had me talked into moving back! We really look forward to the Bear Lake trip...the kids have a GREAT time hanging out at the beach and riding the tube. The beach has a very gradual slope and the kids can go out 50-75 yards and be in just a couple feet of water.

Here are some photos from the weekend...click to view larger size photo.