How'd you end up in Italy anyway? Did you marry a local? Went there for work? Went on vacation and never left?

Wherever you go, some people just skii all day and eat a sandwich at lunch. But at the classier resorts, there are people who will skii a bit in the morning and then spend the rest of the day in a nice “baita” before skiing back in the late afternoon.

Bear in mind that most of these places are within a 2-3 hour drive from the main cities of Milan and Turin. Many people have second homes in the mountains, have been skiing since childhood, and, frankly, don't regard it as big deal. These are the ones you'll most likely find doing 4 hour lunches.

For the rest of the people, for whom the novelty and thrill is still real – they'd much rather be on the slopes…

OT, thought of you briefly when I saw this article in Sunday's NYT about the ski area in Northern Italy where folks ski to eat great meals at these rustic mountainside restaurants. I don't even ski but that article made me want to learn, just so I could visit those places someday. You ever get up to that part of the country?

I think the words you chose to describe the situation is better. Although I may not need to wait to have a profitable web application per se, I *do* need to wait for “the capacity to produce income and wins” or “ability to create wealth”. And in that regards, a profitable web application would be one objective criterion to prove I had that capacity. Other metrics can be used, but I think the profitable web application is most useful for my personal situation.

Even if this flies in the face of opinion, I believe people are more productive when they have stable families.

In my thirties I spent a lot of time socializing and meeting hotties. I got home late, got to work late, and my priorities were very upside down.

I don't do that stuff anymore – and am now much more productive.