Happy Sunday! It’s the end of our three-day weekend. With the third of July being last Thursday, it feels like it’s been a four-day weekend. Lots to do starting tomorrow.
The title above is not about the store but about eating only whole foods. The majority of the stuff out there is processed in some way or form. Nothing new, I was just looking for a title for the day, ha.
Ty and Will went fishing yesterday afternoon but didn’t catch anything. He said he needs some help, so we’ll go out and see what he’s up to. Jag is coming up sometime this week to get his car. We’ll be glad to get it out of the driveway.
Looks like rain and some severe weather down on the front range. Nothing like that up here.
Good call yesterday with one of my former employees and his partner about joining the Company. Think things might work out.
We bagged the crawfish party as we decided we really didn’t want to go, so we didn’t. These days we’re adamant about only doing things we want. Time is the most precious thing you have when you get older. We do have 24 cupcakes Lori made to take that need a home! I won’t be eating them as they’re definitely not a “whole food”.
6:24 now and Ty’s still sleeping. We’ll be heading to the gym soon. Then I have around 50 emails to go through just to get ready for tomorrow.
The battery on our CO2 alarm died yesterday so the alarm went off for what seemed like an hour, (was probably 10 minutes) until the alarm company explained how to remove the battery to stop it. They’ll be out tomorrow to fix it.
That’s about it, have a great Sunday and let’s get ready for a big week! God Bless.
Yesterday the BBB or Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law. The Dems are up in arms as some estimates (from left leaning biased groups) say it could increase the deficit $3 billion over ten years. To put that into perspective, Biden raised the deficit while in office, $3 billion a year, for 4 years! So, anyone against this and complaining should probably sit this one out. In every bill from D.C. there is good and bad as our system is not set up to vote on single issues by themselves. That’s the way it should be but no one in Congress will vote for that as then they’d never get the crap they want as a tradeoff for their vote. They’d have no power to rip us all off. What we really need is term limits for everyone. Glad the bill passed as it has more good than bad, and most all the scary crap the Dems are pushing is flat out false. If anyone loses medical coverage, they’re illegal and shouldn’t have had it in the first place. People can keep getting food stamps and other benefits, as long as, if they’re able, at least try to go get a job. I could go on, but you get it, so great job getting this done!
Today I have a call at 1:30 then we have the big Louisiana crawfish party at 3ish. We bagged out on going up to Beaver Creek as our friends wanted to go from 5 until 11 meaning we would have had to leave around 4. It was just too much. Robi said she and Robert were going to see the new Brad Pitt movie F1. On a whim, that’s what we decided to do. It was great and we enjoyed it.
Ty went to Clear Creek to go camping but called around 6 saying he was on the way up. I guess the guys were just sitting around drinking and he wasn’t up for that. Good for him. He went and met up with Madi and went to watch the fireworks and then stayed the night with her. Jag picked Ava up at the airport around 9. Her mom guilted her into going to New York to help her brother move. She was gone for a few days.
Nice outside right now. Clear and a little cool. We slept in until around 6:15, which is late for us. Lots going on in our work lives and personally and it’s all pretty good. Hard to believe we’re in the back half of the year already. Time to get moving and get my coffee, have a great second day of your three-day weekend and God Bless.
July 4th is one of the more memorable days I had as a kid. It’s right up there with Halloween and Christmas. My favorite was up at Lake George when we were kids, and a spark flew into the bag of fireworks, and we had to kick the whole bag into the lake! When our boys were growing up, they always looked forward to going to the fireworks stand. That was almost as fun as setting them off. We’d always end up making a second or third trip back for more.
Of course, the real meaning of the day is our Country’s birthday. Everyone, and I mean everyone, should celebrate this. I’ve heard some haters might be protesting. Question I have, is if they hate it here so much, why don’t they leave? No one is forcing them to stay and there are other countries they can go to. A bunch of people nationwide were interviewed, and the general consensus was there so many protests these days that no one pays any attention to them anymore and they really don’t mean anything, just another day by democratic funded anti-American idiots. It’s hard to understand where the mindset comes from that wants to make someone hate their country.
Lunch in Aspen was great. The town was packed. Jim brought along his calendar and they blocked out a week in October and February for us to go to their island in Belize. The pictures are amazing. It’s like some private island some celebrity would own. They’re super nice and picked up lunch saying it was the least they could do for me taking care of them at the concert. We’re planning on going to a show next May in either Zurich or Bologna, depending on which city the band has the most time off in. They want to come with us, we’ll see.
Ty had a great interview with Davy’s mom, Davy and someone else yesterday. If all goes well, he’ll probably start around the first of August, good for him. More to come as things progress, but they really want to train him as a manager and make this a career for him. They offered a great salary and benefits package which include time off every day in the winter to hit the slopes!
Not sure what Jag and Ava are doing today. They should be packing as they need to move in 10 days. Julie (Ava’s mom) is coming out to help and hiring some movers.
We had some rain yesterday afternoon and it’s supposed to rain some more today. After my calls, my travel plans are shaping up. Lori and I will be in France around the beginning of October and then fly to Italy for a week or so. In January, we’ll head back to Italy. That’s all we have on the books right now except for Belize and the concert in Europe next May.
Time to get going. Have a great 4th and celebrate our Country’s independence and birthday! God Bless.
Today we have lunch with Jim and Julie in Aspen at 12:15. I have a 9am with Italy and then we’ll hit the road. At 4 this morning, a raccoon, I think, took the lid off our pail of bird seed outside. I heard it and jumped up and saw him scurrying away, but it was dark, so I didn’t get a really good look. It was too small to be a bear, and we really don’t have bears in the sage brush up here.
Gary and Jen decided, I guess yesterday, to have a BBQ tonight as they just emailed everyone yesterday! Way to plan ahead! I don’t think we’ll be able to stop by, but we’ll see. We’re with them tomorrow night for the 4th in Beaver Creek. Then we have Dr. Joseph’s annual crawfish boil party Saturday. He flies in 300 pounds of crawfish from Louisiana every year. Busy weekend.
Ty rode 5 miles on his mountain bike with Will after work. Will’s one of his best friends who’s back from a semester in Australia and headed back to Bozeman in a few weeks. They’ve known each other since we moved up here and they were in like 7th grade. This afternoon Ty is going over to meet Davy at the store (Gorsuch) as Davy wants to hire Ty and train him to be a manager. Davy says Ty could have a career with him if he wants. Lots of his employees have been there for decades. It will be more money and great benefits. Ty wants to leave the valley though in a year or so. He’d like to be in Montana, but who knows what’ll happen, maybe Davy will open a store up there. I’m sure Ty’s salary would be $75K plus. Darn good money for a 21-year-old.
That’s it, Lori wants to get to the gym before my call, so I need to go. 6:15am now. Have a great July 3rd, God Bless.
Last night we had a great time at the BBQ at Bens. We took all the burgers and cupcakes. Davy gave me another 20 pounds of steak burger to fill up our freezer. We arrived in two cars at 5:20 and left about 3 hours later.
Today I have a bunch of calls starting at 9am and going until probably 2 or so. Big changes at the Company, but so far, so good. A former employee wants to put in $2 million so we have our 4th call on this deal this coming Saturday. Another wealthy friend last night asked me if I’m taking any investment for the wine business. Not sure why all of a sudden, all the interest. Must be our cool new products that are finally starting to go viral.
On the 4th, Gary and Jennifer invited us to go up to Beaver Creek. Think we’ll go. Tomorrow after my 9am call, I think we’re running to Aspen for lunch with Jim and Julie, our friends who bought that island in Belize. I hooked them up for last Sunday’s show and they really want to buy us lunch and see us to thank us. We’ll see how long my call goes.
I had Ty’s bike fixed yesterday as he’s been riding a bunch. He’s already gone to work. Not sure if I can get to the gym this morning or not. 6:45 am now.
Last day of June. Tomorrow we start the back half of the year. Every day gets shorter and shorter until December 21st, hold on tight.
I forgot to turn my phone off last night, so it was blowing up with texts from the concert. Everyone had a great time, but I think Fridays show was better. No specific reason I say that, just have a feeling. Last night was the last show of the North American leg of the tour though, so who knows. I’m sure I’ll hear from everyone at the BBQ tomorrow night.
Ty’s off today after working 15 hours yesterday. I need to run up to Davy’s warehouse today and pick up some steak burger from his ranch in Gunnison for the BBQ tomorrow at Ben’s house. I might try to get to the gym before my conference call at 9 this morning. 6:11am now.
It’s nice up here this morning. We open the doors when we wake up which cools the house down for most of the day. Hard to believe it’s July 1st tomorrow. That’s it, have a great June 30th and God Bless.
Man we feel like we’ve been on a month-long trip, when we were only gone for a total of 28 hours! Lots of walking and then standing, jumping and dancing for 3 hours in the Snake Pit, I’m sure contributed. Here’s another picture from the show, great photo.
Amazing how close you get to the guys. That’s why they built this custom stage. Think I’ve said this before, but it takes 210 semi-trucks to transport all the gear for the show.
We left around 10 and made it to pick up Harley by 1. She was so excited she jumped all over me and scratched me and even drew blood with her nails. When we made it home, we started laundry and Lori made enchiladas. Davy and Abbey didn’t make it home until around 7 and Violet, their 15-year-old, wanted to go to some line dancing class, so Wes, their 5-year-old, came down to hang with us. He’s a great kid and Lori loves having a 5-year-old around, ha. She made cupcakes.
Ty’s off to work already. He left 1t 6:30 and has a 14-hour day as they have a party tonight until 9pm. We both feel drugged from no sleep, have sore backs and feel ten pounds heavier. Guess our age is catching up with us, but it didn’t at the show! Ty told me it was great watching me at the concert as he said it looked like I was in a movie and was 20 years old again! Today though, I feel 68, ha! No way we could go tonight. A friend of ours, who was at the show Friday night, and lives in Denver, is taking his daughter again tonight before she heads off to college. Her first concert was Metallica when she was 11. I texted Ray yesterday and set up a couple VIP/Pit passes for him at Will Call. He’s super excited and thrilled. Everyone is our group of 61 from Friday night had a blast and has been texting and thanking me for handling everything. One guy in the Friends and Family lounge, who I didn’t know, came up and introduced himself and his girlfriend which I though was weird. I graciously talked to them and shook his hand, and he said, “you’re like the second most famous person here”! Lori and I laughed, not knowing what he meant. I told him he has me confused with someone else, but he wouldn’t have it. Too funny. Must have been my jean vest! We need to get going and head out to the gym. Have a great Sunday and God Bless. Here’s a few more pics.
And last, our great family! There’s my vintage super cool jean vest again from 1972! Ha! Check out all the kids in their Metallica t-shirts from other shows. You can see how packed the stadium was, 76,120 people. That’s it, we might go to the show in Australia or New Zealand in November, we’ll see. If not, maybe Europe, Spring 2026, as that’s the last leg of the 4 yearlong tour, God Bless.
Yesterday we took off around 9:30am picking up Jennifer around 10. By a few minutes after noon, I was at the stadium and left the girls parked behind a parking barrier and headed to Will Call. Ray told me to go to Window 7 and I walked up and it was if they were waiting for me. I picked up our 57 VIP passes and wrist bands and we were out of there in ten minutes.
We headed over to the Brown Palace and they had two of our three rooms ready. They said they upgraded me but after checking the rooms, we put Jagger and Ava in ours and took theirs. They arrived a few minutes after we checked in. Ty and Jack showed up 20 minutes later.
We walked across the street after going in to Ships Tavern and getting no service for about 15 minutes. I told the girl I didn’t have time to wait so we just left. She comp’d our drinks. We went to La Loma, a Mexican restaurant we’d always go to when we lived down here. Maurizio, a waiter from the old location, recognized us and came over and marveled at the boys and how big they now are. We ate and rushed back across the street. The hotel is packed and the band is staying here too so lots of Metallica t-shirts and people around. I know a lot of guys in James inner circle so it was like a mini reunion.
At 4, we headed down to Churchills where we had half the lounge booked out. Jagger helped me immensely managing getting all the right people the correct number of passes and wrist bands. The girls were right outside at a big table away from all the smoke. We all hung out for 90 minutes or so before heading into dinner at Ships Tavern. Earlier Eleni was getting her hair done and I told her about the poor service earlier, and someone from the spa overheard our conversation, so when we showed up this time, they had 4 waiters standing by for our table of 20 to take care of us, service was great. I didn’t really eat. Jag had some friends show up as they bought their own tickets and I told him I could give them the VIP passes and Snake Pit wrist bands if they bought their own tickets, which they did.
We took a Mercedes bus that held around 15, (we squeezed in 18) to the stadium. Melanie wasn’t going to go but a few hours before the show decided she wanted to now go! I told Marty to buy her a ticket, and I’d try to get another set of passes. Wasn’t happy about that as I’d have to track down Ray and hit him up for another set of passes, which was a pain in the ass. We all walked in a VIP entrance and then took a private elevator down a few levels. Melanie, as I said, was short a VIP pass so I had to talk a security lady into letting her go with us without credentials. Thankfully I was convincing as she let us through. We headed to the Friends and Family lounge where we ran into a bunch more people I know. Finally, after the second band, I walked over to the tunnel under Section 129 which is basically the backstage area. After dodging a bunch of crew, moving out Limp Biscet’s gear and taking Metallica’s guitar racks to the stage, I found Ray and grabbed a couple more sets of passes. Another guy in our group was short a set so I asked Ray for two. He always takes care of me; remember years ago he called Elton John’s manager and got us 9th row at Elton’s show in Denver.
We hung out with friends backstage and headed back ten minutes later so we didn’t miss the start of the show. When I walked back into the F & F lounge, we ran into Paul. He’s a former 26 year JP Morgan exec who manages the bands money. He’s helped Jagger out for years and we’ve known each other for at least 5 years, having meetings on Zoom and talking often, but never meeting in person. I texted Jag who came back in to meet him too. By now the show was 10 minutes or so from starting and the Snake Pit was filling up. Paul walked us out past some other security and took us right into the middle of the pit. We could have got to the same place but it would have taken us a bit more time.
Ten minutes later and 80,000 plus people were ramping up with excitement as the intro was starting. You’re so close it’s like you’re five feet from them. Here’s Robert.
It’s electric when the band starts and 80,000 people in unison are freaking out. Marty, Melanie, his brother, sister and brother in law had never been to a show and didn’t know what to expect. They were shocked. Here’s Kirk,
He’s playing a famous guitar known as Greenie as it was Peter Green’s (founder of Fleetwood Mac), 1958 Les Paul that’s been owned by a number of guys including Gary Moore and others. Kirk finally bought it for a nice $2 million when it came up for auction. In the guitar world, it’s one of the most famous guitars out there. And here’s James, literally 3 feet from us. That’s Jagger in front of us.
15 minutes before the show was due to end, Ava was getting dizzy so Lori and I took her back to F&F to get some water and something to eat. After the show it was like a zoo getting back to our bus. You couldn’t believe the mass of people. Once we made it to the bus, all was good. Our driver took us back to the Brown and dropped us off on the corner. I had him take Marty’s brother, sister and brother in law back to the Ritz. Robin, his sister, (yes that’s her name and Marty’s mom’s name is Lois, too weird) kept joking/bugging me for a meet and greet. Well as soon as they took off and we walked into the Brown, James came out of the elevator! Bad luck for them, ha. He gave me a big hug and said thanks for coming, which I said of course, and then he told me, we broke the record! He was excited and I asked what record, and he said for the most people at a concert at Mile High. I asked who had the record and he laughed and said Taylor Swift, we both laughed and high fived. Here’s me and my lovely wife,
By the way, that’s my jean vest from 1972. Lori hates it but literally over 25 people told me how cool it was and asked me where I got it, so there! Here’s Jack and Ty, they’ve known each other since grade school!
And last, Jag, Ava, Max and Ethan. Max and Ethan were so appreciative for the VIP access, as was everyone else.
One more of James. We thought about going Sunday but it’s a lot of work.
He and the band are off to London to play Ozzy’s last concert July 5th. We thought about going but as he said, it’s a long way to go to play 5 songs. That’s all they play.
8am now, we have to get moving and drive straight to Yampa to pick up Harley. Great time, lot of work, but fun. Hope all’s well. James is excited to get off the road. In about ten days we’re getting our bows out and going to start practicing for our elk hunt in September. He’ll be back like the 8th.
Time to hit the road and rock and roll streaming the show off our phone into the radio. God Bless.
We’re out of here around 9:30 to head down for the show. I’ll be glad when it’s over as the organization and work it takes to get 79 people tickets, Snake Pit passes and VIP access, for two separate shows, is a pain in the ass. On top of that, I had to put about $18,000 on my credit card. All good now though as I’ve been reimbursed by everyone and transferred their tickets to them. All that’s left is stopping by the box office today when I get to Denver to pick up 57 VIP/Pit passes. We’re coming home tomorrow, so I have our buddy Andres, picking up Sunday’s VIP/Pit passes and handing those out. Should be a great show.
At 4 we have Churchills at the Brown Palace booked for cigars for the guys, while Lori is hosting all the girls out in the Atrium for some music and cocktails. Then it’s dinner for 22 at Ships Tavern before our driver takes us over to the show at 7pm. He’ll park and wait for us until the show is over and then drive us back to the Brown Palace. We have three rooms, one for us and one for each of the boys. Lucky kids.
Yesterday afternoon we all met up for cigars as it was our normal Thursday fellowship. Shultz and our friend Pat, who’s working in the new company with us, drove up from Denver for a cigar. I’ll see them again this afternoon at the Brown. We had a good group show up and had a good time.
The house cleaners came yesterday, and the house is spotless as Harley is at her two-day vacation. Not sure if she’s having a very good time, but hopefully she settled in.
We’re picking Jennifer up around 10 as she’s riding down with us to Denver. Gary had to go down yesterday to get his G Wagon serviced so she needs a ride. We love her. She’s so sweet and younger but is super nice. Gary was the engineer who basically designed all of Beaver Creek 40 years ago and is super wealthy. He’s much older than her, but a good guy. Jen had breast cancer but is fully recovered now and so happy and full of life, which things like cancer will do to a person. Ty is following us in his truck as he’s picking up his buddy, who he’s been friends with since elementary school, who’s going to the show with us. Jag and Ava will meet us at the Brown Palace this afternoon.
Jag had a 4-hour interview yesterday! He said it went well and I’m sure it did. We’ll see what happens next week. He said everything they asked him was easy, which I’m sure it was. He’s one of those people that’s overqualified for just about everything, but you have to start somewhere.
I’m still shaking things up at work. Next week big changes for the Team are coming. I’m excited as I think change is long overdue. We were sort of stuck. One thing about me is that I will make decisions. Some are right, some are wrong. But at least I make the decision. My one Partner we let go, had a hard time making any decision. He’d just put things off and take too long to decide anything. By the way, I’m right way more than I’m wrong with my decisions, ha. You have to change with the times. Nothing stays the same, and if you don’t adapt, you’ll be left behind.
There you have it, lots going on and exciting times. The 4th is next week of course and then we’re supposed to fly up to Idaho to hang out on the lake with our neighbors. We’ll see. Also need to get our Italy trip on the books for early October. Should be 2 or 3 days of work and then 7 days or more of having fun with Lori. Have a great day, take care and God Bless.
Busy day today. We’re off at 7am to take Harley to Rocky Mt. Pet Ranch in Yampa. Hopefully we’ll be back around 8:30 after getting her settled. She’s going to be mad!
Once home, I need to start the process of transferring 79 tickets to everyone via email. Around 1 or 2, Shultz and Pat will be here so we can spend some time together hashing out some details on the new company. Then around 4, we have cigars with the guys.
Ty works at 7, Jag has his interview at 10, and Lori will be working from home, along with me. We went to bed sometime around 8 last night as we’d been needing to fill up our sleep bank for weeks. Ty’s car looks great. He had mag chloride build up on the paint from the winter, so I paid extra for a decontamination.
No rain up here. Denver had some as they stopped the baseball game last night. Looks nice tomorrow. That’s it, my battery is dying so time to go. Have a great day, God Bless.
