A Year of Change

I had a hugely successful day yesterday which wrapped up about 4pm. Then we hit the town and went to a few top restaurants where I have some relationships for some one on one meetings. We ended up staying at L’Hosteria which is a famous italian restaurant where I’ve known the owner for 10 years or more. We had a little tit for tat as he wanted to know why he didn’t get some highly allocated wine and I flat out told hi it was because he didn’t want to pay for it. What I mean here is he always (being italian) wanted to pay less than it cost and finally a couple of years ago, I just decided not to play the game anymore.

Well it turns out after some sole for the misses and some veal mileanese for me, we all patched things up and are closer than ever and will now be doing lots of business together. Sometimes you need to stop doing business to do business. Sounds funny but it’s true. I also met with the St Regis hotel chain corporate people, the Little Nell, one of the top hotels in the World and other high end accounts as after all, it’s Aspen. I’m happy to say, we’re back in a big way.

Meanwhile the misses was nursing her head upstairs durinmg the day and then we walked around town window shopping. One of our favorite stops is Kemo Sabe which is a western store with custom made Luchesse boots (the kind my dad wore his entire life) and other western items. We quickly made friends with the owner and were kicking back drinking a beer takling boots and hats within a few minutes. We hung out for a bit while the misses tried on some dream boots (custom made Luchesse’s) hat we’ll never be able to afford, even if we hit the lottery ($1000 a pair!)

We were home by 7:30 believe it or not and asleep pretty early. We’ll go down for breakfast at 7 as it’s included with our room and is fabulous. We should be on the road by 8 and home a bit after 11. The misses then has an appointment at the dermatologists office she’s helping remodel at 2:30 and I’ll go get the boys.

That’s it, Aspen really is beautiful, good to be back as it’s been a couple of years but everyone seems to remember me and missed me coming up to do some business. Take care and God Bless

We made it to Vail just in time for the start of the wine event. The misses had 3 hours to kill while I did my thing. It was a good show with lots of new customers that we will now be doing business with. We left at 4pm sharp to head to Aspen. At 5:30 we pulled into town and up to the Limelight Hotel that we would call home for the next two nights.

Our room nmust have a 500 square foot terrace complete with table and chairs, a big couch and other places to sit. It overlooks town and the mountain. Our room too is big with a fireplace and seperate bathroom with two sinks (we love that as we don’t have that at home!) and a seperate little kitchenette and closet area. After unpacking and freshening up, we headed out for dinner. We went to Jimmy’s, famous for steaks and seafood, where the misses had scallops and I had a fillet. Both were great. We then came back to our new home for two days and decided to watch the new Batman movie. Sadly we both fell asleep but did wake up for the last 10 minutes or so.

Today we’re going to go work out and then the hotel provides a free european breakfast. After that, a quick shower and then we’ll hit the town. My event is from 1 until 4 or whenever I decide to leave. I think we’ll be dining at Kenechi tonight which is one of our favorite sushi restaurants. We miss the boys already but know they’re in good hands. It’s good to get away just the two of us together as we never get 15 minutes uninterupted to talk.

Hope you all are well. By the way,the misses looks stunning walking around town with everyone looking at her trying to figure out who she is, like she’s some movie star or something! Take care and God Bless.

This morning at 11am the misses and I need to be on the road as I have to appear at a wine event in Vail from 1 until 4pm. Then we’ll jump in the car and head to Aspen where we’ll spend the night and I’ll do the same thing tomorrow. After that, a nice dinner, some hopefully good sleep and then Thursday am we will drive home. Thanks very much, as always, to Uncle T and Aunt B for watching the boys. They love going down there and it’s the only place we feel safe leaving them.

I have a call with Switzerland at 8:30 (90 minutes from now) and then one with New York at 9am and also need to gas up the car (and wash it), make it to the bank and pack. I’m doing laundry now and hopefully the misses can get the boys stuff together. We have a nice hotel in Aspen and decided to head over tonight rather than stay in Vail and then have to pack up and un pack tomorrow in another hotel.

I still have my freakin cold and am going to try to get the doctor to call in a Z Pak but they usually want you to come in. I don’t understand that as I’m as good a doctor as they are. I think I should be able to write prescriptions myself. Perhaps I’ll go to med school and change careers. I think the boys want to both be doctors although the youngest wants to be a ninja doctor. It’s good to have a speciality.

Time to run, hope you all are well. Crazy stuff going on in Washington but I’m going to leave it alone as I don’t have the time or energy.

Take care and God Bless

Lot’s to do today and then the misses and I are off to Vail tomorrow afternoon and then will drive to Aspen tomorrow night. We’ll spend two night there and then head home Thursday morning. Today I need to pull some tricks out of my hat for a number of various reasons, mostly financial. It just never seems to stop.

The Broncos won and now have a two game lead over the Chargers who we play in Denver next Sunday. I can’t wait to go to that game! I took some Mucinex along with the misses leftover antibiotics and slept pretty well. It’s 4:30 now but I didn’t wake up all night. Both pups are at my feet. The boys made a few forts yesterday and the youngest re-arranged his room so that when you open the door, bam, there’s his bed. You can’t even walk into his room without climbing over his bed. We’ll have to change this back today while he’s at school.

We’re going to need to get the Christmas tree up probably this weekend. Time’s running out and it’ll be Thanksgiving soon and then the big day before you know it. I can’t believe there are 49 days left in the year.

If any of you are wondering, the misses asked how I knew it was a cow elk or moose that we were tracking the other day, instead of a bull. Good question so here’s the answer. These animals run right through the trees and if it was a bull, its antlers would knock snow off higher up in the trees. The snow on the trees where the tracks led was only brushed off on the sides of the trees where the animals body brushed against them, not higher up. So this is why we knew it wasn’t a bull. There you go, just in case any of you will be tracking elk anytime soon. Oh well, turkey season starts December 15th, if you can find a farmer that’ll let you hunt on his property.

The misses took one of her new pain pills yesterday and was zonked on the couch for a few hours late in the afternoon. She spent the time before that making chicken soup and enchiladas’, yum.

The poor people on the east coast affected by the storm are not doing well. The government is doing its best to keep as much of it out of the news as possible. I don’t mean to keep harping on it but it’s important you understand that they just do not have the resources to be there for people in times of disaster, no matter how much they try to make you think so with sound bites and staged photo ops. Oh well, you’ll have to decide for yourself whether or not to prepare on your own.

Now for your tip for the day, check this out, especially you women.

What To Do If Someone Is Following You In A Car

It’s a scary proposition to realize that someone might be following you. There are precautions you need to take to make sure that you stay safe. Here are a few ideas of what you might do if you think that someone is following you in a car.

It doesn’t take much effort to make sure that you’re not being followed. Since most criminals are amateurs, simply drive around the block if you think you’re ever being followed.  Drive a complicated route, or take a few corners to make sure you’re not just imagining that someone is following you.

Don’t panic and don’t drive reckless.

Calm yourself so that you can think clearly. Get your mind on looking around you to see if there is someplace safe you can go.

NEVER stop and get out of your car.

NEVER go straight home. You do not want the ‘nut job’ to know where you live.

Be sure that all of your doors are locked. Someone can gain access to a car that’s stopped at a red light or stop sign in a few seconds.

Be sure that your windows are rolled up.

Stay on well traveled roads, if at all possible. People looking to hurt people in their cars are looking for people who are the most vulnerable.

NEVER stop to let a car that’s following you pass. Pull over to another lane to let someone pass, but don’t come to a stop. If there’s only one lane of traffic, don’t pull over at all. If the person wants to pass and there’s no traffic, they can go around you if they want to pass that badly.

If you are convinced you’re being followed, dial 911. They will direct you to the nearest police station. It helps to have a charged up cell phone with you…

Drive to a police station. The guy behind you is not likely to stop there. If he or she does, don’t get out of your car until there are policemen outside your door to escort you. Another choice is to go to a fire station, hospital, or an all night superstore. Don’t go anywhere where there are not a lot of people. Keep driving until you come to something well lit and populated. Never get out of your car unless you know that you are safe.

Don’t assume things are safe because they look that way. Don’t assume someone is safe because they’re well dressed, female, young or old or because there’s a child in the car. Criminals often go way out of their way to appear as ordinary and trustworthy as possible. Many, many crime victims thought someone was safe because of the way they looked or because someone was with them. Crooks even use young kids to do their dirty work. (Home invaders are famous for this one – using a child to knock on a door selling something so they can get you to open up and then rush you. Don’t assume anything. If someone is following you assume that it’s dangerous and err on the side of caution.

So there you have it, there are numerous scenarios these days that criminals set up to look normal. They usually look for victims that appear weak or easy targets. This is true for the purse snatcher at the store and the home invader. Think about it, if you have Beware of Dog signs and alarm signs all over your house verses the home that has none of those and unlocked doors or open windows, which one are they going to choose. Traveling overseas teaches you to walk like you belong there, like you live there. I always walk with a purpose like I know where I’m going and am ALWAYS aware of my surroundings. This works no matter how old, small weak you actually are. If you look confident, this usually is enough to make criminals look for an easier target.

Ok, that’s it, your safety tip for the day. I had written a much longer post on the FEMA Camps and the east coast but deleted them when I came back from the gym as I thought it’d mean little to most of you. So I stuck in this tip on how to be safe. Hope you take it to heart, better safe than sorry.

Have a great week, take care and God Bless.

We arrived in Walden around 5:30 pm Friday night after running out for a quick scouting trip to the ranch. With daylight savings time, it gets dark up there a few minutes after 5. We checked into the Ritz, or Antlers Inn as it’s known in Walden, and then headed down for some dinner. If you don’t know the place I’m talking about, the Old Stockman’s Bar burned down probably 10 years or more ago. One of Walden’s wealthy residents (there’s about 3 of them) built the River Rock Cafe with the Antlers Inn above it, where the old bar stood. It’s right on Main Street and is the nicest place within 75 miles. I always joke that it’s like the Hotel Jerome in Aspen (which is like a Ritz Carlton) as the rooms are that nice but cost around $70 per night. Anyhow we sat down for dinner that included  steak and salad, real mashed potato’s, green beans and gravy followed by cherry cobbler ala mode for dessert. Jag of course had some hot chocolate.

We headed up to bed by about 8:30 as 5am would come early. I’ve had this cold for a week where I cannot sleep as I’m hacking stuff up or needing to blow my nose all night (sorry) and I get a massive headache whenever I lay down. (I started taking some leftover antibiotics of the misses last night) It must be some sort of sinus infection as once I’m upright I feel a little better.

The oldest and I shared a king bed and fell asleep pretty quick although as I said, I was up on and off all night. We woke at 4:30 to about 4 inches of snow and more coming down. The ladies at the Inn were kind enough to put some coffee down the hall by the fireplace for me as the restaurant wasn’t open yet. By 5:15 we were loaded up and driving through the storm towards the Wyoming border. We arrived just before sun up and layered up and off we went. It wasn’t long before we crossed some tracks of what looked like a cow elk. This was the first storm of the year so we were worried that we wouldn’t see any animals yet as they’d all be bedded down still high in the timber. Finding some tracks was a good sign. After an hour or so they led to nowhere so we turned our attention up the mountain. We split up, the oldest and I going one way and Matt the other. I came across some more tracks, pretty big, but again looked like a cow elk but the gate or distance between them had me wondering as the tracks were really far apart. Jag and I followed them for a good hour up and down at least 3 draws. I think we actually made it into Wyoming we went so far. Finally I figured out that we were not tracking a cow elk but a cow moose! Now I don’t know if you know but you don’t want to mess with a moose, especially if you can’t shoot it! They’re unpredictable and will charge you and can really injure or even kill you. So with the oldest in tow, I decided to abandon the tracks and work our way back. We finally made it back to the truck and met up with Matt. He saw nothing the whole time we were thrashing about on the mountain side as he positioned himself to see anything that we would spook out. Matt is a 35 year old kid who grew up on the western slope and spent 10 years in the military, mostly overseas. He’s a good kid that looks up to me kind of as an older brother. I  must be getting old to call a 35 year old a “kid”. We shoot and hunt a lot together, big game, birds, whatever. There’s about 5 of us in our group that stick together and always are doing something. He’s also the guy that has the big smoker and bbq’s for us all the time.

We decided to unload our weapons and jump in the truck and head down the highway to the State Line Ranch. I have a good relationship with them as they’re our neighbors up there for all my life. In the past 15 years I really developed a good relationship with the owners here in Denver and the ranch manager up there. Their place is over 250,000 acres with most of it in Wyoming. I had talked with Mark  (the ranch manager) the night before who told me to have free run of the place and go wherever I needed to, and also offered up what he knew about where the animals might be. So we headed up a draw by Watson’s Pass towards Park Draw. These names don’t mean anything to you but they’re close to where we were. I’m sure my dad spent countless hours running up and down these same hills when he was a kid. After another hour or so, we didn’t see a lick of sign so we decided to pack it in. Of course with the season ending today, all the animals will show up tomorrow! 3 and 1/2 hours later we made it home. The oldest fell asleep for about half the ride. Although we didn’t get any meat for the freezer this year, the hunting part of it is always more rewarding anyhow. Just being out there, especially this year with Jag, was priceless. Matt and I always joke that any day we can walk around in the mountains with loaded guns is a good day. We almost popped 6 or so coyotes but they recognized us and ran away to quickly. I can tell you that from looking at them through binoculars and seeing how thick their fur and winter coat already is, we’re in for a hard winter. This is one of those things nature does in the animal kingdom and if you know to recognize that, you can predict the weather better than the most respected weatherman. So, get ready if you live around here.

I almost was going to go back up today for one last try as my tags are good through tonight, but my freakin sinuses and head hurt too much. Lucky we have the luxury of having refrigerators with food in them or I’d have no choice but to be back out there. I wonder how well we’d all eat every day if we actually had to farm and hunt for our own food. It’s amazing what our grandparents and in some cases, our parents (Grandma Dixie) went through when they were kids. We all take running down to the grocery store for granted, hope that’s always there! What would you be having for dinner tonight if you couldn’t buy it at the store? Hmmm.

The rest of the afternoon was spent washing our clothes and lounging around. The misses whipped me up some english muffins and eggs for dinner and something else for the boys. I fell asleep a little after 8 only to wake up 3 or 4 times during the night with a stuffed nose and headache. It’s getting old and the misses says I need to stay in bed all day. Football is on so that might not be such a bad idea but I’m too restless to lay around all day.

Now to Veterans Day, first off, thank you for your service to all of those that served. There’s no greater sacrifice than to give your life or put it on the line for your country. Thanks to all of you!

The Bronco’s play at 11am and we’re hoping for another win. Keep you fingers crossed. There’s a light dusting of new snow outside and it’s cool but actually clears my head up when I breath the cold air. I just grabbed the morning paper which helped a bit.

Take care and have a great day and God Bless. We’re already planning next years hunt as the younger guy wants to come along!

Good morning.  It’s a late post this morning…not due to sleeping in….but instead due to little boys and their sleepover or a “No slumber” party.

The oldest, the Mr. and Mr. Matt left for hunting at 1:00p.m. yesterday.  They made it to their Hotel, unpacked, grab a bit of dinner and a little shut eye before the hunt.  I spoke to the Mr. and the eldest at 5:00a.m. and they were dressed and ready to head out for the hunt.  So far, I think it has been more of a hide and seek game with the elk ahead 2 to 0.  I think they may be on their way home. I know they hiked many, many miles up, across and down some hills (mountains) in 3-6 inches of snow.  The Mr. will have to fill you all in on all the details tomorrow.  I’m making some pork green chili to warm their tummies when they get home.

Now, on to yesterday’s musings.  I pick the youngest up from Chess Club at 4:00p.m.  He won 2 of his 3 games…one of which he beat a 6th grader at Chess.  Way to go!!  We then went to the grocery store for some special request items for dinner….orange juice and cinnamon rolls.  Once home the youngest decided that he would like to have a friend sleepover and share in our scrumptious dinner.  We called his buddy whom excitedly excepted our invitation and he arrived around 4.  The boys played legos, then cars, then they built a fort…tore down a fort…rebuilt the fort and decided to then grab toy guns (which, upon their request I adorned with red and blue led lights) and go out into the dark backyard wilderness to hunt, spy, and build a home base…with more led lights of course.  After that they came in to watch a movie…The Amazing Spider Man…but got distracted with rebuilding their fort.  They had 15 pillows…seriously, 15 pillows, 4 sleeping bags and at least 25 stuffed animals on the floor in front of the couch.  They made cozy spots to rest their bums for the movie.  It was almost 8p.m. when we finally got the movie started, and after 10p.m. when we relocated the fort from the family room to the youngest’s room. Whew.  They were all settled in at 10:18…yes…I was very aware of the time.  I gave them a 10 minute warning and they were asleep in 30.

To my surprise this morning…Lacey barked for her breakfast at 5:08 and when I came downstairs both boys were already watching something on T.V.  I asked how long they had been up and the reply was, “Since 4:30a.m.” Oh, boy…should be a fun late afternoon.  The kiddos have been inside, outside and basically been playing all morning.  The boys took Legos outside and built a village complete with a jail, a spaceship, excavators with tools, guards with weapons and a truck. They had me come out and film their project…about 10 minutes of footage.  This was all before 8:30 this morning.  They have another fort in the family room and are now wanting to fill the bath tub to float and play…you guessed it…more Legos.  I am going to have to insist on them picking up before the water fest.

FYI…my head is feeling much better after the occipital nerve block.  My head only hurts on the top…totally tolerable…happy face for me.

The dogs have been lounging in the fort..again 25 pillows, 4 sleeping bags and most of the couch cushions…good thing I vacuumed yesterday.  I’ll try to attach a photo of at least one dog.

I hear a lot of splashing upstairs and since neither boy is in the tub I had better investigate….no time to proof read, so please forgive my errors.

Have a great day and God Bless.

Ok, I can’t take it anymore, politics is driving me nuts. I just cannot waste anymore energy worrying about it. I have to stop and instead focus on getting taking care of my family. It’s clear all my ranting won’t change anything at all. Here’s a quick comment from Aunt B,

I guess the stock market didn’t like the the outcome of the election either. Yesterday was the single largest drop by the market this year! Funny how the people that run all the businesses have no confidence in our commander in chief to turn the economy around. Oh well, you get what you ask for. here’s a couple of comments.

1. robi says:

   November 7, 2012 at 4:13 pm

   Well I have something to say – We have a dick for a president – can’t believe there are so many f _ _ _ _ _ g stupid people! Hope I didn’t offend anyone!

   Reply
2. Annette says:

   November 7, 2012 at 4:18 pm

   You reap what you sow. Very sad

   Many people are wondering how he won. Let me see if I can sum it up in simple terms. There are now 47 million people on food stamps or getting free stuff from the government. If you take those and add a few minorities that were promised things (or too ignorant to think for themselves) you easily get over 50% of the voting public. It’s kind of that simple. Throw in some people that are fooled by his lies and slick talk and those that get the free Obama phones and it’s kind of surprising he won by as little as he did. The spread in the popular vote was around 2 million. That means essentially half the country likes him and half doesn’t. Makes for a good scenario going forward.

   In Washington, nothing really changed. The Pres is still the Pres, the senate is still controlled by the dems and the house is still controlled by the republicans. So, is anything really going to change? I don’t think so. So there you have it, a friend of mine sent an email yesterday that I thought I’d share, read this………

   The election is over. Some are pleased, some are very unhappy, some have no idea. As soon as it was clear to me what we as a nation had done I examined my options.

   Hate is always an option. If you truly understand and love the country that was entrusted to us there are plenty of candidates to hate. The media for covering for Obama and misleading the people. Those who fed the media the too numerous and easily debunked lies. The people who were willing to trade their freedom for free stuff – cell phones, small checks, free birth control, etc., etc. Those without a clue as to how the laws of economics work, regardless of how grand the scale and on and on.

    However, after giving thought to these things a profound, yet simple reality came to me. It is for me, and perhaps for those of us who realize what we have been given is probably lost forever to repeat after our Lord Jesus as He spent Himself on the cross. “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

    Pray for our leaders, our nation, the peace of Jerusalem and the world. And may His peace be upon you.

    One last thought – Prepare.

   Sounds like me but it’s not. This is from a guy I know who is probably in his late 60’s and lives in the midwest. His wife went back to school when she was in her early 40’s to be a doctor and is now practicing in her town. He’s always been a very spiritual guy (since I’ve known him)  who is close to God but been light on the prepare part. More and more he calls me asking for advice on how to prepare and what to buy or do in general. 10 years ago he debunked the theory of needing to prepare but now has had a 180 degree turn and feels time’s swiftly running out. I’ll have to ask him what made him embrace the idea of preparing.

   Now to our family, not much going on, I’m still sick and the misses is still in pain but we are headed up the hill today to see if she can get some relief at the doctors. Hope it helps. I just dropped the oldest at inter-murals and the youngest is getting dressed for school. I need to get some food and get moving. Hopefully we’ll have some good things to talk about tomorrow, take care, God Bless and just imagine if you lived on the east coast. I’ll bet those people wished they had prepared!

Nothing else to say,

I’m done.

Good morning.  This daylight savings time is throwing the kiddos for a loop.  They were both awake by 5:30 and downstairs intruding on the Mr.’s solace. I sent them both back upstairs, so we could have a few minutes of quiet before the morning scramble for school.  The oldest is reading…I think he was reading until 9:30 last night.  He is definitely hooked on the Harry Potter series, as we have said before….yea!

Okay, if you haven’t already voted…Get Out and Vote!  Hopefully we will have a President by the end of the night….no lawyers….no ballot issues….just a clear winner.  I would dive into the information and misinformation, but I don’t think I could sway you either way at this point. Again…go out and VOTE.

The Mr. is fighting a cold…thus I am writing the post today.  I don’t think he could stay away from last minute politics.  Already we are having voter fraud allegations here in Colorado.  Illegal immigrants are being registered to vote….really…can’t we all just play nice?  I’m sure the Mr. will write the post tomorrow and whomever is the winner… or loser, the Mr. will write a fair and balanced report.

We had one of the youngest’s guys friends come home with us yesterday.  His sister had her tonsils taken out because they were twice the size of an adult’s. Yikes!  The kids did homework and then went out to acquire another bag of leaves from the neighbor to dump on the pile in our front yard. There are four bags of leaves piled nicely out front, I think the boys called it a “Bunker”.  Fun times.

The youngest has a Student Council meeting today and the oldest has a clarinet lesson after school.  The youngest is quite excited because our school is a polling site for our area.  I am not as excited, because that means there are a lot of strangers around.  I think the school keeps the students in the one of the classrooms for the meeting.

It was my good friend’s 39th birthday yesterday…she’s been celebrating her 39th since I met her 6 years ago and she still looks the same as when we met.  The family and I stopped by with a card and a gift, of course they invited us to stay, but neither the Mr. nor I  were feeling well enough to stay. I hope she had a great day!  It’s another friend’s birthday today…tis the season for birthdays and holidays….Game Hens for Thanksgiving and hopefully Surf and Turf for Christmas Eve. (I’ll have to check with Uncle T.)

I am off to make breakfast…have a great day and God Bless.

Good morning, I’m taking over and am not as polite as the misses. So get out there and vote, and vote for Romney, period. He’s not overturning Roe V Wade, not killing medicare or social security and certainly not going to expand government. If you believe this, your believing his lies. There is no way anyone should vote for the incumbent. He didn’t do what he said he’d do, in fact in many areas, he did just the opposite. Sorry to be so direct but apparently you have no idea what will happen to our country if you know who wins another term, otherwise you wouldn’t even consider voting for him! God help us!

If you’ve already voted and voted for the wrong guy (the big O), pray for forgiveness. We don’t blame you, rather we blame the system which allows for all kinds of lies to be perpetuated without consequence that people end up believing. I’ll bet you’re glad today’s the last day but fear not, the 2016 campaign will start tomorrow, whether you realize it or not.

In closing I have to laugh as for the past few days, the big O is out there saying Mitt is a fantastic salesman who is fooling you! Are you freakin kidding me, this guy has been selling us a pack of lies for years and now tries to tell us Mitt is the salesman? Give me a break. I hope Mitt wins in a landslide as nothing would please me more than to see this loser give a concession speech tonight. So there you have it, the truth and nothing but the truth, like it or not.

God Bless