A Year of Change

It’s looking more and more like the kids will be having some sort of on line learning in about 100 days when school starts. Funny to talk about school starting when it’s not even over yet. Anyhow it looks like college will be in person in some fashion but schools like Ty’s could be in for a much tougher go of it. We’re anticipating distance or at home learning for him as of now. Knowing this, us and other parents are questioning paying such huge tuition for an at home experience here in Vail. We called our good friends Rick and Devon Smith whose son Cooper has been doing on line school for years. Rick is the Head of HR for Vail Health and Devon is a mortgage broker. Coop has been going or learning through Colorado Connections Academy which is a Colorado accredited school that has schools nationwide and has had kids go to colleges from Yale to UCLA to Stanford. Best of all, it’s free! The kids have face to face classes with each teacher once a week and then work on their own the rest of the time. With all going on, Ty is looking at this as an option. We told him it might be smarter for us to put the money we’d spend on tuition money in a savings account for him instead of paying our school for on line learning when CCA has been doing, and more importantly knows how to do on line learning already. If we’d been in on line learning all along the kids would have over $300,000 plus whatever it earned right now in a savings account! Of course it wouldn’t have replaced what they learned or their experience but the point is it’s now a different time. More to come soon.

I’m getting some work done on the truck today, just regular maintenance. Work is crazy with lots going on. The house is coming along and we made some decisions yesterday on a few things that saved some money. Jag is doing well even though his and every kids World has been turned upside down. We feel so bad for the kids as it shouldn’t be this way, especially for those graduating.

Lori’s head might be getting a little better. We’re keeping our fingers crossed. We’re racking our brains to come up with the new business idea in these new times to adapt to the new normal. We have a couple thoughts in mind and will keep you posted. I’m picking up some bone in steaks today at Edwards Meats in Wheat Ridge for our neighbor and us tonight. I also need to order the bbq for the house and decide which 65″ tv we’re getting. Last thing is a hot tub for outside but we might need to wait on that depending on the cost.

That’s it, Mothers Day is Sunday. Send flowers and candy now! Here’s a call to action for the day, think of a comment to write this weekend about your mother, no matter how old you are! Be well, be safe and God Bless.

Another day, more of the same. A couple of interesting things did happen yesterday. Lori was on a Zoom call with over 200 people from VMS. Looks like we are not the only ones unhappy. The head of our school is such a pompous ass and from what I’m told by Lori and other parents, many parts of the call were staged. Questions had to be submitted ahead of time and many of the more difficult ones were not addressed. I could go into more detail but you get the point. We’ll see what happens.

I ran down to Denver to put about four guns on consignment to raise some money. Lori is getting unemployment but it’s only about 50% of what she makes. We’re doing the best we can though. Today the boys have to, and I mean must, clean their rooms. I’ll be washing the cushions on the couch as Mojo crapped on them last night. Super.

Work is crazy. We’re fighting for every deal with any and everyone we can. We might give some people some more pay cuts. This time though I’m cutting selectively in markets that are not performing. Things appear to be opening in many States though so we’ll see. Lucky I’m not in the restaurant business or retail, right?

Guess I’ll get going. Tomorrow I need to take the truck to Denver to be serviced. I’m trying to get Ty in for a haircut but might need to wait until next Thursday. Jag wants to go shooting so maybe we’ll do that this weekend. That’s it, be safe, be well and may God watch over you!

The day after. Cinco de Mayo or the 5th of May. Lots of people will be partying today. Hope they stay safe.

Lori had a good birthday. We drove down to Jeff and Tina’s and ordered some Mexican food from Sol and visited for a few hours. We kept our distance and spent our time outside. The boys came along which made Lori happy. We then stopped at Tom and Ali’s on the way home and they had bought some cake for Lori so she at least was able to blow out a candle as we didn’t get one as she just doesn’t eat cake. She does love frosting though!

The Country seems to be over the virus and wants to get back to normal. This is probably a little too early but would probably be ok if people took precautions when they go back out. The problem is most people (sometimes including me) are just going back out without a mask and thinking this thing is over. it’s easy to become complacent. Now I don’t know if masks actually work or not but they do provide an extra barrier. The best thing we can do is still social distance I would think. I don’t think this is over. In fact I think we’re just in the beginning of it.

Now we’re facing beef shortages and price hikes of up to 60%. Costco is even rationing beef. Guess who has about 6 months worth of beef and a half a cow coming at the end of July from a rancher over by Montrose. I think you know the answer. I guess freezers are sold out everywhere. Jeff said it was the first time in six weeks he found paper towel in his grocery store. Things are a bit better up here but our local store is rationing chicken, pork and beef too. Who knew, oh wait, we did, ha.

I’m off to Denver this morning to pick up a couple checks from a few firearms that we sold. We discovered we didn’t put a window in our master bedroom that opened other than the sliding glass door so we need to have the builder order two more and replace the two in there right now. I have to have a window that opens for fresh air. In our defense we had one that did open but moved it and the new ones didn’t. We just missed it when we moved windows and didn’t think of it.

The boys are well. Jag needs to clean his room today. I’d like to buy some boxes or plastic containers so we can pack some more stuff today but don’t know if Office Depot is open. I’ll check when I get down to Big D.

Lori is still sleeping. Her headache is still with us. Sure wish it’d go away. Have some Mexican food today, be safe, be well and GB.

That’s right, today is the day, Lori’s birthday! I think she’s like 38 or something, not sure. She’s sleeping in now so I’ll check later. This afternoon we’re headed to Denver as our friends Jeff and Tina are making her a birthday dinner. We’re taking the boys too.

Yesterday we did laundry and laundry and laundry. Around 3 we took a drive down to the house but other than that, it was just laundry. I’m up at 6 and just fed the dogs and will squeeze in some cardio at the gym before my 9 am call. The boys have a few more weeks of home schooling before the year is over. Lori had a Zoom call with everyone from work last night and they all were wearing Happy Birthday hats, fun.

I’m working away and will probably need to put in another small pay cut for people. We need to get back to normal. Thank God we are not in retail.

It was nice yesterday and after the few clouds burn off this morning it’ll be warm all week. That’s it, send Lori a birthday wish! Be well, be safe and God Bless.

I woke up early to run to Whole Foods for groceries and sandwiches before I left at 9:30 to go shooting. Ty was up with Lori when I made it home at 8:30 and Jag was still at the ranch with Madi. I scrambled for an hour getting ready to leave at 9:30 to meet everyone on the road. We then drove about an hour up to Sweetwater where James bought 500 acres. He’s building a main house, a large barn and remodeling a smaller guest house deep up into the property. Then we drove up a steep hill above the houses to a shooting shack he had built which is a concrete pad framed in on two sides and laid out with some shooting tables, chairs and racks and more. Steel targets were set up at 10 and 40 yards for pistol and 150, 200, 400, 600 and 800 yards for rifle. There were five of us in all and we had a blast. We must have had about 20 weapons with us from suppressed HK rifles and multiple AR’s to long range 300 win mags. James brought along a buddy who was a gun guy like me so we really hit it off. I knew who he was as James had told me about him as his brother had painted a few of James’s rifles and was a vet who had multiple tours overseas. Sadly I knew of his brother as he had bad PTSD and ended his own life a few weeks ago after multiple attempts. Makes you think and appreciate what you have no matter how tough things get. Anyhow it was good to meet him and I’m sure we’ll hang out more. Nice guy with similar interests. We all hung out and probably went through 2000-3000 rounds in three hours before packing up right before the afternoon thunderstorms.

I made it home around 4:30 and Jag was home but Ty was out with Sonny. They showed up at 7 and then went back out to watch a movie at Zoe’s. Sonny then spent the night. Today we’re headed to the gym and have about 6 or more loads of laundry to do.

The virus is still here but it’s better up here. Now the news is saying the soles of your shoes carry the virus. I just don’t think people are going to sanitize the soles of their shoes multiple times a day. When we were driving up to the ranch we saw all kinds of ranchers and people who seemed like they lived in a different World. No Covid up there as they are pretty isolated from most of society. Marty and I were saying they probably dream of having a place in Vail while we dream of having a place out in the middle of nowhere where they live. Funny.

By the way, I was the only one to hit out to 600 yards with multiple rifles and was hitting a coyote target at 150 yards with a 9mm. Boom. That’s it, Lori’s birthday is tomorrow! Be well, be safe and God Bless.

Yesterday after my call Lori went for trigger point injections and then Jeff and Tina showed up and we all went down to the house. It was nice and sunny and we had a good time. Jag and Madi came too. While we were gone Ty left for a sleepover birthday party. I guess it was outside like in tents. Don’t know much about it but at 3:07am Ty came home as he and Preston left saying they couldn’t sleep, hmm. More to come tomorrow on this one. Jag and Madi went to her parents ranch which is a small piece of property on the road to Steamboat. Lori and I hung out and watched tv.

It’s 6 am now and I’m running to Whole Foods before I leave at 9:30 with Marty to go with a few guys to James ranch to go shooting. It seems a little cooler today which will be nice. Not sure when I’ll get home. Lori’s birthday is Monday, whoo hoo. Hope her headache is a bit better. The doctor said she might have a broken or fractured scapula, what? More later but that’s the big bone in your upper back.

Time to get moving, make it a great day and God Bless.

Jagger is a CU Buff! That’s Buffalo for those of you that don’t know which is the school’s mascot. Yesterday he committed to the University of Colorado at Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. This is the toughest school within CU to get in to and is ranked number 16 in the Country. He worked really hard and this is a really impressive accomplishment. His choices were down to Baylor and Pepperdine and The University of Santa Clara but for a bunch of reasons he chose CU. This was a really wise choice possibly made a bit easier with the whole virus thing. it makes a lot of sense right now to be closer to home. He’s quite excited and happy as he should be.

May Day! It’s also May 1st! Time flies. Soon it’ll be summer. Yesterday Lori and I drove down to Denver to switch out her car to down size a bit with her on furlough. More to come on this later. It’s hopefully going to be warm today. Our friends are coming up for some fun and sun. Mojo was groomed yesterday and looks so pretty. He was really dirty and matted.

I have a work conference call today from 9:30 until 11 and then am done for the day. Lori’s head is the same but today she’s getting some trigger point injections this morning. Hopefully that’ll help.

The house is coming along and we’re downsizing as we go. Not in the size of the house but with the things inside it like light fixtures and furniture and stuff. With money tight we have no choice. Especially with a kid going to college now, ha! It’s all good, we’ll figure things out.

Time to get moving so we can go to the gym before my call. Enjoy the day and send Jag a congrats via text or give him a call. His cell is 303 870 4686 and I know he’d love to hear from any of you. God Bless.

Yesterday, more of the same. I did go to James’s house for an hour to hang out and smoke a cigar around 6pm. Kind of reminds some of you of Pink Floyd, right, have a cigar, you’re going to go far! Before that Lori and I went to the gym and then hit the carpet store before running down to the house. We had a good talk with a student or someone from CU that answered some questions we were wondering about. Later during the day a student from Baylor called Jag. The colleges are putting on the full court press trying to get kids to commit. They’re a business too!

Today Mojo is getting a long overdue haircut. We’re also going to stick Harley in our bath tub one of these days. Yesterday it was hot, about 75 degrees up here. Today it’ll be even warmer. Tomorrow Jeff and Tina are coming up and Saturday I’m going to James’s ranch to do some shooting. He built some cool benches were setting up and trying out.

We also found out our antibody tests came back negative. This means we supposedly never had the virus. I’m not buying it. We know Lori had it. Her lungs were on fire like nothing she’s ever experienced before. Apparently there are lots of false negatives.

Lori’s headache is bad. We’re on day 3 of antibiotics and if things don’t change, we have to find her a massage or acupuncture somewhere to try to relieve some pressure on her head. Not sure what to do. I’m working on it daily. Time to go, be well, be safe and GB.

Today I need to clean the garage as tomorrow we have electricians coming by to install a light near the front door. This was supposed to be installed in winter but, well you know. Yesterday Lori, Jag and I went to Denver where I picked up some samples and Jag had his haircut with some highlights from Phoebe at her house. He looks like a surfer kid now with blond streaks all over on top. It looks good. Then we drove up to Boulder to get some groceries and drive through the CU campus to take a look. It sure is a beautiful campus. We need to decide today between Baylor and CU. Baylor did send an emails yesterday saying they will have in person classes in the Fall. Not sure how they know that today but they said it. I think it’s a ploy to get kids to commit to Baylor while other schools are still saying we’ll know more later.

It’s going to be 77 today, so they say. It’s been getting warmer and warmer each day and the white stuff is swiftly disappearing from the hills out our window.

Today Ty signs up for mountain biking as it starts I think this week. Wish he would have gone with us to get a haircut, as he needs one bad, but he had a science project due. Lori and I are going to the gym in about 45 minutes before we each have Zoom calls at 10. I think we’re downsizing our car payment by trading in the Range Rover for the new Audi Q8. Should cut our payments in half. Just need to make sure we still get our tax credit. We’ll see.

Yesterday morning Lori and I went to get the antibody test for Covid. There’s some concern if they’re accurate. We should know today though if we have the golden blood, ha. Not sure if it’s good or bad to have the antibodies. If you do you could end up being forced to donate plasma and if you don’t you might be restricted from certain places like airplanes or movie theaters. Not sure where this is going, more to come.

We’re really looking forward to warm weather and green everywhere. Marty texted last night asking if I wanted to go float the Colorado today but I have the Zoom call at 10. I should bag the call and go but I won’t.

That is it. Time to go. Make it a fun day! Do something different to change things up and God Bless.

Boy does coffee taste good in the morning. As I sit here looking outside writing today’s post, a good cup of coffee kick starts the day. Our friends are coming up today and we’re all going down to the house. Tomorrow I’m headed to the distributor to pick up some samples and get the boys haircuts. I might also run up to Longmont to pick up a check from a rifle I sold. Today though it’s about sun and fun.

Yesterday we tried to get some stuff done and did a little bit around here but nothing like we had planned. Our tv is screwed up this morning as Jag hooked up the Wii last night and didn’t switch it back to the tv. I should make him wake up and come fix it but it’s not all that important. Lori’s trying to figure it out.

Jag is coming to the house with us and Jeff and Tina. We’ll try to drag Ty along too. We’ll see. It looks overcast this morning but is going to burn off fast. Not much else going on. The Country is starting to open up in certain areas. We’ll see how that goes. Now they say the symptoms for Covid include any and everything you could possibly have. It’d be easier to make a list of things it doesn’t have! Looks like we’re also going to be facing a meat shortage with chicken and fish to follow. Our local King Soopers only lets you buy two pork products at a time. Luckily we have a bunch of meat in the freezer. We also have a side of beef (half a cow) that we’re getting from a rancher down in Montrose mid summer. New times call for new strategies. Get ready, think ahead. Be a boy scout! That’s it, God Bless.