A Year of Change

Well, today, from about 10am on, I should be able to hear all kinds of new things. My appointment is at 9:30 to get fitted for my new hearing aids. There’s a stigma associated with them of being old, but I’ll look past that if it helps prevent dementia. Still, what a pain. I’ll let you know tomorrow how it’s going.

Yesterday after my haircut, I met Lori, Ava and Jagger at the mall where we bought Jag some dress shirts and Ava a coat. We’d bought her a coat for Christmas that didn’t fit, so we finally found one to replace it. Lori found a nice sweater on sale too. I’m the only person that didn’t get anything, ha. We then had lunch and talked about the plan for the next two weeks. I told the kids not to get a mover and just sell all their stuff, as a mover would cost more than their stuff was worth. They agreed and anything they want to keep they’ll load up in one car and drive out after they find a place. Looks like we’ll sell Jagger’s Audi as they only want and need one car there. Both kids are really practical and savers which is good.

Ava submitted her resignation letter yesterday to Schwab and they were really good about it. They’re paying her through the end of the week and she’ll drop off some stuff at the office today. Ava’s mom arrives I think Saturday, to help her pack things up while Jag will be working to Chicago. He’ll stay in a hotel close to work for a week and then Ava will fly out a week from this Friday and they’ll go see apartments the Saturday before the Super Bowl. Lori has a realtor already looking for potential places.

I told them just get everything done fast. No point in taking a month or more to pack, move and find a place. If you’re making the move, just do it. It’s like ripping a Band-Aid off. Hopefully they’ll have a place rented by February 10th or so. We’re really excited for them and will head back down to Denver Friday to take Jag some more stuff. I’m sending him with my expedition level Canada Goose parka as Chicago is cold in the winter, especially with the humidity coming off the lake. The hotel is about 8 blocks from work. Old Town or the Gold Coast, two really nice areas to live, where we’re looking at apartments, are about a mile or so from the office. So, a lot going on to process, but they’re handling it well. More to come.

Lori is working in Vail today and Ty works too. He’s off tomorrow. I have two interviews with candidates for my national account positions. One guy seems great. I called a long time buddy who retired a few years ago, who is a close friend from a big company in Dallas, who knows the guy. He was at his place in Miami and yesterday was his birthday, but he answered the phone by asking me, “why kind of car did you buy now”? Ha. We both love Porsches. He asked when I’m interviewing the guy and I told him 2 this afternoon, so he told me to call him this morning, but gave the guy a big thumbs up. Nowadays, you have to really do your homework and vet people. After him, I have a woman to talk with who lives in Michigan around 3pm.

6am now so time to go. Lori and Ty are both getting ready for work. Think I’ll get to the gym before my appointment. Have a great Wednesday, God Bless.

We’re headed down today to take Jag some clothes from his closet and a big suitcase. We’ll also get him some clothes and things he needs to have for starting his new job next week. I sent him to Neiman’s yesterday to get a couple pair of slacks. We had a gift card to use there which helped.

Ty strolled in around 6. He works today. He’s having a bit of a hard time right now. We think he’s missing his girlfriend he broke up with a few months ago. At 22 it’s tough to figure out what you want to do in life. That’s a lot of pressure on a kid. When Lori was 22, her big goal was to get a good tan, ha. I know he wants to move somewhere for a fresh start after he gets his truck paid off. Most kids in the valley feel that was as it is a small town. I told him if he comes up with something he’s passionate about and wants to start a business, we’d help him. He has such a strong work ethic, whatever he’d do, he’d be successful. We’ll see.

We all need to be out of here by 7. I’m getting my haircut at 1o but will drop Lori at Jag’s first and then meet them at the mall around 10:30.

Think I’m giving up cigars and now smoking a pipe! James brought me one back from Amsterdam last year and Marty has one and we’ve been messing around with them for six months or so. There’s an art to it and I think we finally figured it out last weekend during the football games. We’ve been reading the forums on the internet and trying to learn the art, (yes, it’s an art), of pipe smoking. As an added bonus, we decided we look a whole lot smarter with a pipe too and its way less expensive to smoke a pipe than cigars. Supposedly not as bad for you either, although I don’t think any smoking is good. We were smoking too many cigars which are not only expensive but have way more nicotine. They say one regular size cigar has as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes! I had no idea, that must be why we like cigars so much! So now we’re buying tweed suits and velvet smoking jackets and starting a book club, bwaaaaah.

Warming up this week. It was minus 12 yesterday morning. Should be in the mid 40’s in Denver and mid 30’s up here with the rest of the week even higher. Roads should be fine too.

5:50 am now, time to get moving. Have a great day and God Bless.

Well, we lost. A couple really bad calls helped the outcome, but it is what it is. The snow kicked in big time in the second half which didn’t help things. I don’t think anyone scored in the second half. Still, we overachieved this year big time. We should be really good next year. Here comes the off season.

The kids had a blast until the final whistle. Ty stayed in Denver with the bad weather. Lori was going down today so she could help Jag get organized, but we’ll wait until tomorrow as the weather is supposed to be better.

We had a nice time with Marty and Mel here. Mark came over to watch the game too. Lori’s tortilla soup was good and of course, so was the birthday cake she made for Melanie.

Today we’ll work around the house. It’ll start warming up this afternoon and the rest of the week looks good. It’s around ten below up here, but that’s ok. In a little over 60 days, it’ll be the first of April and we’ll be celebrating Easter. We dodged the snow for a good three months. The news just showed Denver is at about half of where it should be for snowfall for the season. It’s worse up here. I’m sure we’ll get a couple good storms in February and March to catch up.

Gold is almost at $5100 and silver at $110. I don’t see a whole lot that can stop it. At this rate, it could reach $10k this year! I’m changing my prediction to around $8600 by the end of the year. That means 10 ounces will be worth $86,000! That’s a nice return when the average price of your holdings is around $2500 an ounce or $25k for ten ounces. You can, and still should, buy if you can. I’m more bullish on gold than silver as you have to buy a lot of silver to take advantage of the gains. Crazy times.

Time to go. Have a great last Monday of January. Stay warm, safe and God Bless.

There’s been more anticipation for this game than Christmas! At least for me and millions of other Broncos fans. I saw a map the other day of the Country showing who is cheering for which team. The whole Country was orange except for one tiny little speck up in the northeast that was blue. Not sure we’ll win, as we have our backup QB playing, but the whole Country is on our side. I think we’re going to win, but that really doesn’t mean anything. I do have a knack for predicting games though!

Ty went down last night and will meet up with Jagger and Ava this morning. I’m sure they’ll be tailgating by 10am. The game starts at 1 and it’ll be cold. The wind chill should be 5 below or so. Marty, Melanie, and I think Davy and Abbey, along with her brother and wife from Florida, are coming over for the game. Mark is too.

Yesterday our handyman, Salvatore was here from 9 until almost 5, fixing stuff up around the house. We need him for at least another full day. He caulked the master bathroom shower and counter, fixed a couple toilets, fixed Ty’s shower door, fixed wood chips in two sliding doors, replaced weather stripping on a door and more. Next week, he’ll grout some places in the tile where it’s worn out and do some more caulking. He works for Abbey almost weekly and does a really good job, well worth the money.

Lori made a big batch of tortilla soup and baked Melanies birthday cake yesterday. We bought a tempurpedic mattress pad for our bed at Costco which raised the height of our bed and is nice. It was only $170 bucks too.

I shoveled maybe 3 or 4 inches of snow yesterday morning when I woke up. That was it for snow as the rest of the day was clear. Looks like it’s warming up this week. Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll get some more snow this season.

Lori and I are headed to the gym and then will get moving around the house. 1pm will come fast and we need to be ready! Lori made penalty and challenge flags last year for the Super Bowl by taking ping pong balls and wrapping them in yellow and orange cloth. We’ll get used them out for today’s game as the refs need all the help we can give them!

That’s it for today. Go Broncos! Sure hope we win. I’d like us to just crush them so it’s not even close. If we lose, we still way overachieved this year, but I say, let’s go to the Super Bowl! It’ll be a lot more fun with the Broncos in it, rather than the Patriots! Enough said, God Bless.

We finally got some snow. Not much, maybe 2 inches at most here at the house, but it is snow. Of course, high up on the mountains, they have much more. Just 100 miles north in Steamboat, there’s almost a foot. We might get a couple more inches or so, but that’s about it. It’s 25 degrees out up here, but only about 3 degrees in Denver.

Big news of the day is Jagger has a new job! A premier investment bank, Cabrera Capital, sent him an offer yesterday. They been going back and forth for a couple months now. They actually created a job for him which is amazing. He’ll be analyzing data and trends and advising traders. These guys are big time and we’re so happy for him. Jag reports directly to the Managing Director. If interested, you can check them out here, www.cabreracapital.com.

Here’s the kicker, the job is in Chicago and Jagger needs to be there a week from Monday! These people don’t mess around. He’ll fly out late next week and be in some corporate housing or rent a place in the financial district, near the office for a few weeks. Then he’ll fly back, we’ll load up his stuff and Ava, and the kids will be moving to Chicago! They’re in a great part of the city, way away from the south side where all the crime is, as it’s a big city. They’ll have to find a place over the next month. Ava will either transfer or quit her job as she really doesn’t like it. She did get all her licenses though, so she’ll be able to find a job pretty easy in Chicago. What an exciting new chapter for them. We’re super excited for both of them. They’re moving to a real city, with tons of history and culture and basically starting a new life. We’ll fly out often as it’s only a couple hour flight. We’re all still figuring out the next 30 days or so, like when they’ll move, how we’ll drive their stuff and cars out, and where they’ll live. Ava has family there and Jagger has lots of friends and we have lots of connections, so it’ll be fine. We’re all excited as this is great for him and we know he’ll succeed. They were super impressed with Jagger when he went out the first of December and would have hired him by now, but as I said, they created a position for him, so it took a while with the holidays. More to come as we learn more.

This morning, we have Davy and Abbey’s handyman coming to start fixing all kinds of little things around the house. Lori and I cleaned Ty’s room yesterday. We went to Costco and bought him some new bedding and he’s off today. He needs the sleep and needs to recharge from the week before. He’s going to the game tomorrow with Jagger and Ava and a buddy. We have Marty and Mel, and I think Davy and Abbey and her brother and wife coming over for the game. We’ll celebrate Melanie’s birthday which was last Wednesday or Thursday. It’s going to be a cold one down there!

Time for me to go shovel and then get ready for Salvatore to show up at 9. It’s pretty outside. We almost forgot what snow on the ground looks like! Have a great Saturday and Go Broncos!

God Bless.

They say it’s coming, but it’s not here yet. We’ll soon see. Looks like 8 degrees in Denver, maybe 15 or so up here, which is shorts and flip flop weather. Forecast says 4 to 8 inches here. It’ll all wrap up by tomorrow night so getting to the Bronco game shouldn’t be an issue. Looks like some more flurries Sunday after the game.

I ran over to Whole Foods yesterday to stock up on groceries as we hadn’t been to the grocery store for a week or so. I’m still a little stuffy but getting better every day. I did workout yesterday and will again this morning. So far, Lori, who I think gave it to me, if it wasn’t Ty, has avoided my cold. It’s been a bad flu year. I don’t think this is the flu, but it could have been and maybe I just managed to fight it off. Hard to tell. We don’t get the flu shot anymore, haven’t for years. We do work hard at trying to keep our immune systems built up.

I had a few calls yesterday but postponed a couple of Italy calls until next week. Ty’s getting ready for work. Jag and Ava are doing well. If there wasn’t this storm coming in, we’d go down to see them tomorrow, but that’s not happening.

Time to go, 5:52am. Have a great day, be well, stay safe and healthy and God Bless.

My nose is still stuffy but no sore throat, cough or any fever. Just an annoying sort of runny nose. I’ll take an allergy pill today. Can’t take those at night or you’re up all night.

Lori and Jagger had a great lunch at Sushi Den yesterday. Good for them. Lor made it home around 4 or 5. Ty’s off today and will get some rest. I have a call at 10.

Cold weather coming in late tonight. By Saturday we could have enough snow for me to shovel for the first time this year. Things are supposed to wrap up by Sunday morning when Ty will drive down for the game. A buddy of mine invited me to go to the game, and he’s in Club Level, but we have Marty and Mel coming over to watch the game. No one is giving us a chance, but then again, no one gave us a chance last week either.

7am now, time for more coffee. Have a great day and God Bless.

I’ve been fighting a stuffy nose and a little sore throat for a few days, so I decided to take the day off. I had an interview at 9 and a call with Italy at 10 and that was it, so I moved them.

Lori is off to Denver to go to the dermatologist. I think she’s having lunch with Jagger after that. Ty’s already off to work, so soon, it’ll be Harley and me.

Luckily my cold is from the neck up. I’ll be fine and my throat doesn’t really hurt anymore. I just have a stuffy nose now, so I’m on the mend.

Metals are on a tear! Gold is almost at $4900 and silver around $95! I see silver holding but there’s still a huge upside for gold. You have to watch Costco online as they’ll have U.S. Gold Eagles every now and then. Whenever they do, they sell out the same day, even at today’s prices. They deliver to your house via UPS in two days! Costco is THE only place to buy gold as you can use a credit card and get points or miles, and if you have a Costco Executive Membership, (we do), you get 2.5% back in cash, plus Costco has the lowest markup anywhere. Whenever available, we grab one or two ounces. Gold has been a hedge against inflation for centuries, and it’s just cool too physically own. Last year, I introduced Tommy to my gold guy, and we all thought is was expensive then at around $3K. Today that’s a steal. I personally think it’ll be $10,000 an ounce by 2030 at the latest, maybe sooner.

No snow up here, but it is colder. Looks like a cold football game this weekend with temps in the low teens and the wind chill around zero. Glad the boys are excited to go, and that Lori and I will be watching from our living room, ha.

That’s about it, have a good day, God Bless.

Lori and I are fighting off a cold with a little sore throat. Ty is still sick as he was on the go for the past few days since the game. He finally made it home last night and is getting ready for work right now. It’s 6am here.

I have calls with Italy and 10, 2 and 4 today. Not sure if I’ll make it to the gym or not this morning. No snow up here but Denver did get some yesterday. Looks like cooler temps coming in for the game this weekend. Lori and I are letting Jagger and Ava and Ty and his buddy go. It’s a Sunday game and it’s hard for us when we work Monday, plus the kids are really into it. Both could be living out of State by next year.

Time to get moving. Have a great day, be well and God Bless.

We’re in the back half of January. Not sure if winter is ever going to really show up. Besides needing the water, we’re just fine with it. Looks like snow in Denver this morning.

Well, it’ll be the Broncos and the Patriots. Kind of eerie as the Patriots were the team that drafted our QB that will be playing instead of Bo, and ten years ago, last time we were in the Championship Game, we played and beat them. It’s a 1 o’clock start which is good. Lori and I are deciding whether or not we’re going or if we’ll let the boys and Ava go. I might go with the three kids, we’ll see how the week goes.

I have an interview with another candidate at 10:30, my conference call right before that at 10, and then a lot of work after that. Lori has an 8am PT appointment, so we’ll be out of here soon.

That’s it for the day, have a great day and God Bless.