A Year of Change

Mid June already, wow. The summer seems to go faster than the winter. Too bad we can’t just stop time for a week or so right about now.

Tomorrow Lori is flying to Sacramento to see her mom. She’ll of course wear a mask. She’ll be home Friday. After we drop her tomorrow morning Jag and I are heading to Boulder to meet up with a new friend of mine who is a CEO of a defense company and on the board of about 10 startups in Boulder. He’ll be a good guy for Jag to know when he’s in Boulder. Then we’re driving up to Conifer to pick a few things up before we head home. Ty will stay with the dogs and watch over them.

This morning we’re getting a bar stool from Frisco and taking it down to the house to make sure it fits under our counter. We need five of them and this particular store is having a 40% off sale which really helps. We cancelled 4 from another store as these are much nicer. We also found a sleeper sofa that’s about 1/3 of the price of the one we’ve been looking at for when Dixie visits. Then at 11 Ty has a physical with Dr. Adkins.

The weather has been great. It’s around 85 or so up here by mid to late afternoon but still nice and cool in the morning and at night. Perfect. In Denver it’s too hot. Glad we live up here.

Jag is struggling with his major. He was accepted into Biomedical Engineering but has been thinking of going into Electrical Engineering but really wants to be a surgeon. He can switch to anything he wants as the Biomedical Program is the most difficult of all programs to get into at CU. Anything else is just an easy transfer once he decides. I keep telling him he doesn’t have to decide right now but you know him. He likes to have his ducks in a row! Maybe tomorrow he’ll get some insight or better idea after he meets my friend.

It’s about 7 now. Last night Lori, Jag and I watched a hilarious movie called Your Highness. Robi, you and Robert should watch it, you’ll love it!

Be well and safe and God Bless.

Are you hanging your flag today! Hope so. If you for some reason don’t have one, go get one!

Yesterday Lori and I headed down to Denver after dropping Ty in Frisco as Jack and his family rented a house until tomorrow in Breckenridge to get out of Wheat Ridge.

Denver was weird. Lori said it was like that old Charlton Heston movie The Omega Man. Not many people were on the street but the roads were packed. After stopping in at a few furniture stores we headed to Cherry Creek Grill for lunch before heading home. They sat people at every other booth and took out half the bar stools. We had salmon and broccoli as usual and it was as good as always. Servers wore masks but otherwise all was normal. In the stores I mentioned how annoying the masks we were wearing were and the two girls helping us said in relief, “you don’t have to wear a mask, do you care if we don’t?” We all then simultaneously let out a deep breath as we took them off. No one wants to wear them anymore.

We were home by 5 and picked up a little and that was it for the day. We decided to drive down to the house to check things out and it’s coming along more and more each day. Lori decided to have the interior doors painted black to contrast with the white walls. It looks really good, sort of like an upscale hotel or fancy New York penthouse. Today it’s really nice outside. Lori woke up around 3:30 as she couldn’t sleep and has been doing laundry since then. Harley is going to training June 30th for 10 days or so. We found a really good girl who supposedly works wonders.

We’re still deciding what to do for bedroom sets. They’re so expensive. Jag comes home today sometime. We’re headed to the gym to get some exercise. Hope you all are well, be safe and God Bless.

This morning it’s stunning outside. When you stop and look at the sky, the mountains, the rivers, the trees and everything else around you, no matter where you live, it’s absolutely stunning. God was the ultimate artist and I couldn’t imagine how anyone could have done a better job.

Yesterday I was in Denver and then Conifer and then back down to Lakewood for a stop at Edwards Meat Market before heading home. Ty was upset as he couldn’t get his internet to keep working so he could finish his drivers test. Looks like he’s finally ready to get his license. Jag was in and out most of the day. I think today he’s going to Madi’s family’s ranch outside of Wolcott for the day and night. Lori and I and maybe Ty are headed to Denver to hopefully wrap up some shopping on a few remaining pieces of furniture and stop at Best Buy for a booster for our router. I also need to get new tv’s. We were going to Durango but Tina was stuck in Scottsdale for another night as they cancelled her plane. We didn’t want to go anyhow as we need to see the numbers for the spa and review them first.

I think we’ll head to the gym as we’re both up and it’s 6:32 right now. I picked up a couple of more bottles of whisky yesterday for incentives. A 42 year old bottle of Canadian Club and some Michters 10 Year Old. I know this doesn’t mean anything to you but they’re really good rare bottles. I always have a few thousand dollars worth of cool whisky laying around. Lucky I don’t drink otherwise they’d all be half empty!

Robi sent a text yesterday. She like the rest of us are frankly sick and tired of all going on. From the virus to the new political movement (I’ll leave it at that) are overwhelming. It’s really hard to believe what’s going on in our Country if you think about it. Bet it’s getting hot down in Arizona. It’ll be in the 90’s here so it’s got to be 100 to 110 down there.

Guess I’ll run, we’re looking at going to Canada moose hunting in September instead of elk hunting here this year. We’re planning an Alaska trip next year too. Marty, James and I are super excited about this. Have a great weekend, God Bless.

Man I had a muscle in my right calf wake me at 4:30 this morning. Sort of reminded me of when we’d have to stop on our drives to Arizona with Mom as she’d get leg cramps too. Eagle County, where we live, just requested for a full and total opening from the State. This allows pools, bars, restaurants, hotels and other businesses to open without restrictions. Apparently we’re close to eliminating the virus up here.

I’m off to the gym in a few minutes and then will head down to Denver to pick up some things before heading home a bit before noon. We cancelled our dining room chairs from Restoration Hardware yesterday as they were like $500 a piece and Lori found better chairs for $200! This is a big deal when you need 8 chairs! Good job Lori!

I managed to clean out most of the garage yesterday and Jag washed the car. Ty cleaned his closet too so we all accomplished something big. Jag worked on his closet too. It was really nice yesterday and is going to be a bit warmer today. I think Lori and I will be headed to Denver again tomorrow to look for a few more things.

No politics today. Stuff is too crazy to even make up. I will leave you with this comparison though to times about 75 years ago though. As I said, those that ignore history are doomed to repeat it. America better wake up! God Bless.

Today we’re meeting our cabinet maker at the house at 9:30. Not sure what we’re going over with him but I’m sure there are a few things. Lori probably knows. I packed some more large plastic tubs again yesterday and have some cases of wine arriving today so I need to make some more space in the garage.

Now to what’s going on in our little Country. Let’s see, Gone With The Wind was removed from HBO, the tv show Cops was cancelled, and the worst is Warner Bros. is going back and taking away Elmer Fudd’s gun so he can’t chase that Silly Rabbit we all know as Bugs Bunny! A statue of Christopher Columbus was beheaded in Boston, (guess he was a racist or something in 1642) and Nancy Pelosi wants 11 statues removed from Washington D.C. Some want the Washington and Jefferson monuments removed. Let me be clear, if we erase our history, we for sure will repeat it. What in the hell is going on. Why is a small vocal misguided crowd allowed to wipe out century’s of our nations history? How is removing a statue of Thomas Jefferson, one of the great patriots and founders of our nation, going to help any person, black or white, in 2020?

On a local level, our State politicians passed a law Sunday night in secret requiring mandatory vaccines for HPV, the flu and Covid when a vaccine becomes available. Now I happen to think the HPV and flu shots are good but I don’t think the State or government should have the right to tell any parent they must vaccinate their kids. On Covid, I think I’ll pass until a few million of you get it first. In fact let Bill gates go first! This is a slippery slope and on this one, I don’t think many will comply. I guess you can opt out as a parent if you watch a movie on the benefits of vaccines. What a joke. The big issue here is what happens when the government tells you you can’t have something or do something you don’t agree with. How about when they say anyone over 65 can’t have any more medication because they’re too old and they need it for younger people? Or worse, what if there is a food shortage and you are rationed food based on your age? Sounds far fetched doesn’t it. Well beheading Christopher Columbus and removing Gone With The Wind from your tv and defunding the police didn’t sounded realistic a few months ago. Time to look for a nice little place in Wyoming as a vacation home. Who wants to go in on a small little ranch less than an hour from Jackson? They’re out there, pretty cheap as of right now too. We’re serious.

Well time to get moving. Wonder what strange happenings we’ll see today. Oh wait, in Seattle and Portland they just said anarchists just took over 6 square blocks of downtown and made it a police free zone. Man, I want to rush down there for dinner, right? What a shit show. These people are nothing more than domestic terrorists. God help us and especially help our children. Be safe.

Today is trash day and we’re still cleaning. I have tubs stacked in the living room full of clothes, boots and shoes, kitchen gear and more. I managed to clean out the cupboards above the fridge and two large over stuffed kitchen drawers yesterday. One thing about cleaning stuff out whether the storage unit or a closet is you find all kinds of fun stuff you haven’t seen in a while. The problem is you find more stuff you wonder why you ever had or saved in the first place. And that’s what you “clean out” or throw away. We have some new neighbors who are younger and we’re donating (giving) them all kinds of good clothes our boys had but have grown out of. They’re super happy as she’s a sixth grade teacher at VMS and he does some construction work and they don’t have much money. They have one young son. So more to clean and pack every day even though we’re still about a month away from things being done.

Last night Jag, Madi, Lori and I went down to the house while Ty went to Sonny’s for his birthday. Both boys will be home this morning. Lori’s back has been out for days. She did something at the gym and screwed it up 3 or 4 days ago. Hopefully she’ll get better today. We’re headed to the gym in 30 minutes and I have a call at 10. Then it’s back to cleaning.

That’s it, no politics today, be well and safe and God Bless

This morning we woke up to the white stuff, snow! We don’t have a lot but it’s that sort of wet, heavy, messy snow that is bending all the trees over like they’ve been in a hurricane. The wind is still blowing ever so lightly compared to the past few days. It’ll all be gone by tomorrow as the sun will be back soon and melt it all away. Regardless, June 9th is one of the latest dates for snow in a few years.

Madi spent the night as she came over around 8 last night. Harley spent the night in Ty’s room which was a first. Both dogs are going to doggie daycare Thursday through Saturday as we’re going to Telluride and Durango to check out the spa we mentioned a few days ago.

We met with Craig, our landscaper, at the house last night at 5. We’ll meet him again tomorrow to continue mapping things out. We’re putting in a fair amount of sod which is pretty cheap. The expense with grass is having to water it. Water in the mountains isn’t cheap.

The Country is still a mess. Still lots of confusing info about the virus. Check this out from yesterday from the World Health Organization. This has caused a huge uproar.

“From the data we have, it still seems to be rare that an asymptomatic person actually transmits onward to a secondary individual,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, head of WHO’s emerging diseases and zoonosis unit, said during a Monday briefing from the WHO’s Geneva headquarters. “It’s very rare.”

Well well well, this puts a wrench in all the stay at home mask wearing proponents out there. The news this morning is saying they too are confused. No one knows what’s true and what’s false. Then you have some cities wanting to disband police departments. Wow, you’d better make plans to move now if you live in one of those towns as they’ll be just like gun free zones only a lot larger. This will essentially give criminals a free pass to commit crimes as they’ll know that there will be no police to stop them. Smart. Then you had House Democrats kneeling while wearing African tribal cloths in a publicity stunt that has backfired horribly. Black leaders across the Country and World are slamming them on Twitter and social media for this stunt. How is this any difference than blackface? Old white politicians dressing up like black people from Africa, wow. Again, smart.

So back to us, I was planning on cleaning the garage today but it’s still snowing lightly with the wind blowing. Guess we can clean and pack some stuff indoors today. Again, hard to believe it’s June 9th. Lori’s ice cream maker seems to be lost in transit so we cancelled it and will now order a smaller one so she can try creating some recipes.

Time to go. It’s almost 7:30 and I should get cleaned up. Still trying to figure out what school for both boys will look like in about 10 weeks. Hope you all are well, God Bless.

First of all, I’m beginning to think Robi is the only one who reads the blog or at least the only one who knows how to comment. Here’s hers. Thanks for playing Robi!

Robi says:June 7, 2020 at 4:44 pm

Ok so since you brought it up let me speak my mind! I have never been a racist. These protest are making me think I am becoming one. This entire deal is so much BS I can hardly stand it anymore. Has nothing to do about race and it sickens me that we are playing along with this shit! Police officers kneeling, hugging these thugs. WTF!!!!
I don’t think even peaceful protest should be allowed. I don’t think anyone should die at the hands of the police, I’m not saying that, but they are making this thug (George) a hero. No hero to me, not a role model! Anyhoo, I’m down with a reunion!

I basically agree with you. This guy is not a hero, but saying that, he should not have died over a forged check or counterfeit bill, whichever it was. But yes we’re headed down a slippery slope. The news this morning says the city council in Minneapolis is going to disband the police department, what? Wonder how they’ll feel when one of them needs the cops as their house is getting broken into by home invaders. Having no police department will basically give criminals and gangs permission to do what they want. Think about it, how stupid is this. What a fucked up Country these days.

Yesterday Jag took off at noon with Zach, Matt and Nico to go camping for the night. I think they’ll be back this afternoon probably wanting a warm shower and a good meal. Ty and I hung out for a while and Lori rested as she pulled a muscle in her back.

We’re headed to the gym this morning, or at least I am. We have a lot going on. We need to order the necessities like mattresses this week for the house or they won’t arrive in time. Lori wants to go see Dixie but we’re hesitant to have her fly and then go see her Mom. We have friends who bought a motorhome in Florida to drive to their house here so they didn’t have to fly. To be fair they could have flown private so they must have wanted one anyhow.

I’ll leave everything else for another day. Maybe Robi, Robert and us will have a reunion, ha. Be well and safe and God Bless.

Yesterday was a little rainy for most of the day. By the afternoon though it seemed to have stopped and the sun came out. Today it looks like we’re starting off with sun. I guess there were some bad storms in Denver with some damaging wind and rain. It was nothing like that up here.

There were some more protests in Denver but not as large as they have been. On the east coast they seem to have slowed down but in places like L.A. they’re still going. Look, I’m 100% against racism. Hell I’m a child of the 70’s, you know, peace and love and the can’t we all just get along attitude. So I understand that black people are looked at differently and some people including some of you and me take a second glance at a black person when you see one walking down the street at night. But let’s be clear, society and the actions of a small minority of black people have conditioned us to feel that way. It’s a fact that people of color commit a disproportionate number of the crimes which makes society think different about them. Not all people of color are criminals as I have good friends who are black and work for me. As I said yesterday what needs to happen is people of color who lack opportunity and tools such as education, need a hand up. What they don’t need is a hand out. All that’ll do is let them party or buy some stuff and won’t change a thing. To be fair, there are lots of poor white, Latino, American Indian and other races of people that need help too. If I say American Indian, what do you think of? Most people identify them as alcoholic’s as they as a race have a higher percentage of people with drinking problems. Again from a lack of economic opportunity. Most people though don’t see them as a threat. So society does look at black people unfairly if we want to be honest with ourselves. This means work needs to be done and I’m 100% supportive of peaceful protests and hopefully this 2 weeks of mayhem will spur real change and not just be another band aid on a multiple century old problem that started with slavery. The criminal activity though needs to stop.

Up here, lockdown has been a mess and we’re over it. Thankfully things are almost back to normal. Cases do still pop up now and then but nowhere near the rate of a few months ago. Life has to get back to normal.

Today we’re going to try to go shooting. It was too rainy and windy to go yesterday. We did go down to the house and Tom was there installing shelves in the pantry. Ty cleaned his room really well and I’m not sure what Jag did. We might go to Denver today to get some computers for school and buy some beds and nightstands for the boys. We’ll see.

How do you all like my Cowboy Cauldron? I can’t wait for it to arrive. It’ll be like camping every day. Still no response from most of you on any plans for the summer or life. I know it’s hard to get out of your comfort zone or daily routine. I’m trying to challenge the boys to do the same right now and they’re pretty much doing what they do any other day. Don’t you think there has to be more? How about we all start a book club? Anyone interested in all of us reading the same book and then we can talk about it? Might be fun. Probably won’t get any takers here but I’m throwing it out there. I’m open to ideas if anyone has any. How about a family reunion next summer? That’s it, time to go, make it a great day, God Bless.

Robi gets the honor of having her name as the title of the post today as she’s the only one who posted her plans. Great job and here they are,

Robi says:June 5, 2020 at 5:21 pm (Edit)

We are kinda waiting it out a bit longer to see what’s happening in this cracra world of ours. Would love to drive over to Newport Beach for a few days. We are planning on coming to Denver in September for the Eagles concert if it is still gonna happen. I am reinventing myself. I will retire at the end of August if not sooner after 17 years. Looking into volunteering at a place called the Scott Foundation. It fosters kids between 13-18 and needs mentors to help get them reading to be on their own at 18. Other than that, I am just trying to be a good girl and be the best I can!

I think a lot of us are in that same place. One of my Partners and I are looking at starting a pseudo foundation or organization that will help this whole oppression issue out. You see we think that the problem is many of these neighborhoods (mostly but not all black) that are run down and economically depressed, and coupled with young people that have a lack of education, creates a lack of opportunity which is the issue. Just giving money to address racial division or black oppression is not going to do a thing. You have to address the underlying problem and that is how can you turn these kids lives around one at a time. More on this to come but the key is upgrading their neighborhoods, getting people some training and education which will then allow them to earn a living to support themselves and their family and most importantly, have some pride in themselves. Just a thought.

Now yesterday we had a few notable things happen. Lori and Jag bought some Just For Men to dye Jagger’s incoming moustache and sort of beard a little darker than it is. I laughed and said I can’t let them go to the store alone anymore. On top of that, Ty went to some lake with friends over by Fairplay but the GPS took them to Georgetown and then over Guanala Pass to get there. For those of you that don’t know this is about an extra hour out of the way but a nice pretty drive. Last our friends Jeff and Tina want Lori to take over the Woodhouse Day Spa in Durango! We’re going down with them a week from today to check it out. The franchise owners are not spa people and Tina being the regional manager said she won’t let it go down. They’ll carry the financial end of it and just want Lori to run it. The spa’s worldly successful and Lori has that spa background from working with Dr. Rodgers. The main issue is it’s about a 5 hour drive and she’d need to go down there weekly. Funny how things happen. At work, it looks like Lori will be furloughed for at least another month. More to come there too.

Today it’s sort of raining outside but will warm up. Jag was on with his advisor at CU who is a professor in the Engineering School and she was amazed talking with him as she commented how most kids are partying and going to grad party’s and that she’s so impressed how Jag has it going on and is focused on his education and career. Nice to hear.

Today I’m taking the boys shooting, long guns and pistols. The range opens at 2 so hopefully the rain will be gone by then. I picked up some wine yesterday at the warehouse in Denver and just missed Tom and Ali as they were going to see Earl. Guess they visit with him through a window. At least they can go. Floors are in at the house and now appliances and plumbing and a second coat of paint gets going along with carpet in the basement and landscaping so it’s moving fast too. We need to keep packing around here and fixing things up.

So lots going on here. As I said the other day, I’m learning how to cook over an open fire with cast iron as they did in the 1800’s. Here’s a few pictures of our cooktop that’s coming in a few weeks. It’s called the Cowboy Cauldron. Not only can you cook on it but it’s also just a great fire pit. I can’t wait to get it as I love campfires, just something about them. That’s it, time to head to the gym, be well and God Bless.