A Year of Change

Looks like rain in Denver. Ty, his friend Luca and I will leave around 8:15 this morning for Denver. We’ll drop Luca with his parents in Idaho Springs and then be on our way. Lori will land around 5:15 at DIA and we have a lot of things to do in town before she arrives.

Today is Juneteenth, a day when Union soldiers freed slaves in Texas that symbolized the end of slavery in the United States. Let’s get this straight, white people freeing black people yet some will be protesting white people today. To top all these protests off, did you know, the White American is the only force that has fought to the death to end slavery in the history of the World? Hmm.

Now for the virus, the news says things are spiking in some States but if you look closely, hospital admissions have remained flat. Another hmm.

Now back to the day. Ty and Sonny and Luca made it home around 9:30. They were up late when Jagger made it home, sometime after midnight. It’s 6am now and I have laundry going. I’ll wake the boys at 7:30. It looks like a nice Fall day outside. We can always use the rain so it’s welcome.

Aspen was nice. People going about their business. I was in and out of town fairly quick and will go back next week. Jag will stay home with the dogs today and we should be home around 7:30 or 8 tonight traffic permitting.

That is it for the day. Think I’ll finish my coffee and catch up on some emails since I woke up at 5:30. Father’s Day is Sunday. Lori asked me what I want to do and I said nothing. I’d rather do something that makes her happy. Hope everyone is doing well. God Bless.

Well it doesn’t look like Lori will be getting her old job back in its current form anyhow. I do think she’ll end up managing the new spine surgeon or maybe another new doctor but it doesn’t look like Dr. C. will bring her back in the next couple months. He’s probably now going to retire even sooner, like within the next 90 days or so which is why this is the case. I told Lori that’s ok, whatever happens, happens. She’s been working with the new doctor on a transition plan for when he arrives and of course he loves her. She’ll land on her feet as she always does. Good people always end up ok.

This morning I’m off to Aspen. Jag hung out with some friends last night and Ty and Luca were in town for most of the day. I went over to James’s house for our weekly hang. I’m starting to enjoy smoking cigars, ha. I should be back by 2. Tomorrow Lori gets home around 5:30. Then it’s the weekend, whoo hoo.

Time to get moving. Harley goes to board and train on June 30th. We’re super excited and so is she. Lori took her over to meet the trainer a few days ago and she had a blast. She’ll be gone a week or so depending on how long it takes but will come home a changed pup. We’ve been looking for years to find the right trainer and finally found a girl right in our own backyard that is great. More to come.

It’s cooler today, mid 70’s. Nice. Enjoy the day and God Bless.

Lori made it to Sacramento safely and then stayed at Dixie’s since her arrival. Meanwhile Jag and I did a mini tour of the front range. We first headed to Boulder where we met Prabha, our new friend, and his wife. Then it was a stop at an account to pick up some champagne we traded for, some lunch and finally a drive through the campus where Jagger will soon be a freshman. Lots of girls still in Boulder for the summer. Jag is going to love it and both Dr. Rogers and Prabha and his wife told him what a smart decision it was.

Next up was a drive up to Conifer and then back to Lakewood before heading up the hill for home. On the way, the mom of a friend of Ty’s from camp called as the boys wanted a sleepover. Jag said he’d go get Luca as they were staying in Breck. He’s a nice kid and his family lives in China part of the year although they’ve been back here since before the virus hit. Jag then went to hang out with Lexi while I cleaned up a bit.

This morning I’m going to the gym before cleaning some more around here. In California Annette and Serena drove up to see Lori. Dixie was up on and off most of the night as Lori just called me as she couldn’t sleep. She has some things to get done with her mom over the next couple days.

Looks like Red Rocks might be reopening for concerts and events. Colorado seems to be continuing the trend of lower cases while some places in the Country are having a little spike. Again, herd immunity is the way to kick this which will take more people getting exposed.

It’s going to be in the mid 90’s in Denver today meaning the mid 80’s up here, perfect. Jag and I had a fun father son day as we don’t usually get 6 hours together alone with no distractions. He’s such a good kid, so is Ty. We’re really lucky. That’s it, now go tackle the day. God Bless.

We’re headed to the airport this morning to drop Lori for her flight to Sacramento. Should be hot there! Up here it’s beautiful as usual.

Yesterday was a busy day doing some stuff, just not sure what, ha. We might be getting close to wrapping up Mom and Dad’s estate as I finally heard back from one of our Senator’s who I reached out to for help. We had a couple nice conversations and I think we’ll actually see some movement soon. After all it’s only been like four years. For what it’s worth, the Republican Senator is helping while no word from the Democrat.

Last night Jagger talked with Dr. Rogers who Lori used to work for. Chris is a good resource for him as she’s a brilliant person. She speaks six languages, studied at Harvard and the Sorbonne in Paris and was recruited to work for the CIA before she decided to become a plastic surgeon. She was extremely helpful in giving Jag some direction. He’s stressed out as he has such a strong drive to succeed. Today he’ll get some more advice as I said yesterday.

That’s it for today. Time to shower so we can get moving. Enjoy your day and God Bless.

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