Dinner With Friends

Posted on August 26, 2012 by dbf

The sunrise was stunning this morning.  The sun was an orb of luminescent orange that seeped into pink, purple, and a lovely shade of light blue.  Gorgeous….almost makes it worth only 6 1/2 hours of sleep.

We headed over to our friends at 6p.m.  We took a salad and vino, another couple brought homemade crab cakes that were delicious.

That was the misses, I’m sure you can tell from her descriptive words describing the sunrise. Anyway she was saying, we headed to our friends for dinner at 6. There were 7 of us and 7 kids. Quite the brood. The 7th kid was a left over we brought along. You see the oldest guys classmate came home with us to play around 3 and when it was time to go to dinner, we found out he was going to be home alone until 8 or so! The misses didn’t feel comfortable with this so she called to see if we could bring him along. He ended up coming home with us to spend the night. Now I’m not judging but we wouldn’t leave the oldest one home alone until 8pm while we were across town, to each their own.

Today is the day we’ve all been waiting for! Da da da–da, my NFL Fantasy Football Draft! Now I have Tom Brady on my team and we can opt to keep one player if we like and I’ve decided to keep Brady. Not only is he one of the top two quarterbacks out there, the misses thinks he cute, so we’re both happy. After the draft I’ll be running downtown to the stadium to catch the rest of the pre-season game between the Broncos and the 49’rs, what a great day!

Yesterday the oldest and I ran to Boulder and then made it home around 1. Meanwhile the youngest was hanging out with Mom. Our new bed is great but we took back the mattress pad we bought the day before. it just wasn’t working. We need something though, so the search continues.

I’m not going to go into politics but take a more universal approach to what’s going on these days, check this out, it’s a bit of a read but interesting,

 

8 Economic Threats That We Were Not Even Talking About At The Beginning Of The Summer

In the crazy times in which we live, it helps to expect the unexpected.  Sometimes you can think that you have it all figured out and then this world can throw a real curveball at you. Very few people anticipated that we would see a massive outbreak of the West Nile Virus in Texas this year or that the Mississippi River would be in danger of drying up after experiencing historic flooding last year.  Who would have thought that we would see the worst drought in more than 50 years or that horrific wildfires would burn nearly 7 million acres of land?  This is why economic conditions are always so hard to predict.  A single “black swan event” can come along and change everything almost overnight.  Our world has become incredibly unstable, and so who really knows what the rest of 2012 will bring?  Will we see a stock market crash?  Will the hurricane season be unusually bad?  Will war erupt in the Middle East?  Will we see a major earthquake on the west coast or even a volcanic eruption?  Will the upcoming election cause an eruption of anger and frustration in America?  We don’t know the answers to those questions yet, and the truth is that we will probably see some things happen that very few of us are anticipating at this point.

This is an exciting time to be a “news junkie”, but unfortunately the vast majority of the news these days is bad.

It is almost as if a “perfect storm” is developing.  Our weather is going crazy, our financial system is on the verge of collapse, our politicians seem more insane than ever, there is evidence of social decay all around us and the drumbeats of war in the Middle East grow louder with each passing day.

As strange as 2012 has been so far, I fear that things are about to get a whole lot stranger.

Not that we haven’t had some very unanticipated events happen this year up to this point.

The following are 8 economic threats that we were not even talking about at the beginning of the summer….

#1 West Nile Virus

What is up with all of the strange disease outbreaks that we have seen so far this year?

Flesh eating disease and the bird flu have both been making global headlines this summer, but in the U.S. right now it is the West Nile Virus that is getting the most attention.

So far more than 1,100 cases of the West Nile Virus have been diagnosed in the United States and more than 41 people have died from it.

More than half of the cases so far have been in Texas, but we have also seen people come down with West Nile Virus in Mississippi, Louisiana, South Dakota, and Oklahoma.

If you live in any of those areas, you might want to do your best to avoid mosquitos for the rest of the summer.

#2 Historic Drought

This summer, the United States has experienced the worst drought that it has seen in more than 50 years.

This weather has been absolutely crippling for farmers and ranchers all over the nation.  As I wrote about the other day, about half of all corn being grown in the U.S. is currently either in “poor” or “very poor” condition.

As the drought has dragged on, many farmers and ranchers have become increasingly desperate.  In fact, one farmer has even been feeding his cows candy in an attempt to deal with rising feed prices.

Needless to say, this drought has been causing commodity prices to soar.

On Tuesday, the price of corn closed at a record $8.38 a bushel, and the price of soybeans closed at $17.30 a bushel.

#3 The Mississippi River Is Drying Up

Thanks to this drought, rivers and lakes all over the United States are drying up.  In fact, there have been reports thatmillions of fish have been dying because water levels have gotten so low in many areas.

Even the mighty Mississippi River has dropped to dangerously low levels.

At this point, the Mississippi is lower than most people living along the river can ever remember.  If it drops much lower, it could potentially have an absolutely devastating impact on the U.S. economy.

A recent NBC News report described what is at stake….

About $180 billion worth of goods move up and down the river on barges, 500 million tons of the basic ingredients for much of the U.S. economy, according to the American Waterways Operators, a trade group. It carries 60 percent of the nation’s grain, 22 percent of the oil and gas and 20 percent of the coal, according to American Waterways Operators. It would take 60 trailer trucks to carry the cargo in just one barge, 144 18-wheeler tankers to carry the oil and gas in one petroleum barge.

If all traffic along the Mississippi was forced to stop, it is estimated that it would cost the U.S. economy about 300 million dollars a day.

And already there have been stoppages along one 11 mile stretch of the river….

Nearly 100 boats and barges were waiting for passage Monday along an 11-mile stretch of the Mississippi River that has been closed because of low water levels, the U.S. Coast Guard said. New Orleans-based Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Tippets said the stretch of river near Greenville, Miss., has been closed intermittently since Aug. 11, when a vessel ran aground.

So what happens if the Mississippi gets even lower?

#4 Wildfires

The extreme heat has also been responsible for the horrific outbreak of wildfires that we have seen in the western United States this year.

So far in 2012, nearly 7 million acres have been burned up.

That is an area about as big as the states of Maryland and Delaware combined.

#5 The Global Elite Hoarding Gold

In the past, the global elite and the mainstream media would mock those who are hoarding gold in anticipation of a major financial collapse.

But now it is the global elite who are hoarding gold.

In a previous article, I discussed how men such as George Soros and John Paulson are investing mind-boggling amounts of money in gold right now.  The amount of money that these two individuals are investing in gold is difficult to comprehend….

There was also news last week in an SEC filing that both George Soros and John Paulson had increased their investment in SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest publicly traded physical gold exchange traded fund (ETF).

Mr Soros upped his stake in the ETF to 884,400 shares from 319,550 and Mr Paulson bought 4.53m shares, bringing his stake to 21.3m.

At the current price of about $156 a share, these are new investments of about $88m of Mr Soros’ cash and more than $700m from Mr Paulson’s funds. These are significant positions.

Combined, Soros and Paulson dumped more than three quarters of a billion dollars into gold during the second quarter of 2012 alone.

So what are they anticipating?

The central banks of the world have been very busy hoarding gold as well.  According to the World Gold Council, global central banks were net buyers of 157.5 metric tons of gold during the second quarter of 2012.

Over the past 20 years there has never been a time when global central banks have accumulated that much gold during a single quarter.

So just what in the world is going on?

#6 Recession In The UK

Everyone knew that Greece was in deep trouble.

And everyone knew that Italy and Spain were in deep trouble.

But it was a surprise to see the UK economy plunge deep into recession.  During the second quarter of 2012 alone, the UK economy shrunk by 0.7 percent.

At this point the British economy has contracted for three quarters in a row.

Hopefully things will not get even worse over there.

#7 Major Economic Slowdown In The United States

Considering the fact that the U.S. economy never even came close to recovering from the last recession, it is a bit disheartening to see that it looks like we are headed for another major downturn.

According to Michael Panzer of Financial Armageddon, measurements of economic activity compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia indicate that the U.S. economy is rapidly heading into another recession.  If you doubt this, just check out this chart.

And for a lot more reasons why the U.S. economy is entering another recession, check out this article.

#8 Hauled Off To A Mental Institution For What You Believe

Do you ever worry that what you post on Facebook could get you involuntarily committed to a mental institution?

Well, that is exactly what happened to one military vet recently.

A former Marine named Brandon Raub was hauled off to a mental institution because of what he posted on his Facebook page.

This is how the Economic Policy Journal summarized what happened to Raub….

The muscle used to grab Brandon Raub was local Chesterfield County, VA police. Also present during the grab were agents of the FBI and of the Secret Service.

Both the FBI and the Secret Service claim that they were only observing and not participating in the grab. The Chesterfield County police initially stated that they were only carrying out a request from the federal agencies.

The police also claim Raub is not under arrest, even though he was led away in handcuffs and is not permitted to leave the psychiatric ward of a hospital—even though it appears that Raub is not in  any way in need of psychological care.

I note this happened in the United States of America, with local police, FBI agents and Secret Service taking part.

The claim that Raub is “not under arrest” is completely and totally ridiculous.  The authorities came to his door, slapped handcuffs on him and are holding him in a mental institution against his will.

And now he has been transferred to a facility that is 3 hours away from his family, his supporters and his legal team.

What in the world is America turning into?

The Rutherford Institute is defending Raub, and the following is an excerpt from a statement about this case on their website….

“This is not how justice in America is supposed to work—with Americans being arrested for doing nothing more than exercising their First Amendment rights, forced to undergo psychological evaluations, detained against their will and isolated from their family, friends and attorneys. This is a scary new chapter in our history,” said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute. “Brandon Raub is no different from the majority of Americans who use their private Facebook pages to post a variety of content, ranging from song lyrics and political hyperbole to trash talking their neighbors, friends and government leaders.”

This is the kind of thing that we have seen under brutal totalitarian regimes in the past.  Dissidents are grabbed by authorities and taken to mental institutions where they are conveniently “disappeared”.

This kind of thing is not supposed to happen in America.

But it is happening.

And you know what?  Before the authorities start attacking people for exercising free speech on Facebook perhaps they should clean up their own house.

It turns out that thousands of DHS employees have been convicted of crimes in recent years.  The following is from a recent CNS News article….

There have been 2,527 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees and co-conspirators convicted of corruption and other criminal misconduct since 2004, according to a federal auditor.

Our world is becoming a very crazy place.

One thing that most people did see coming this summer was the continuing economic decline in Greece.

At this point Greece is experiencing a full-blown economic depression and it gets worse by the day.

If you can believe it, 1,250 companies have shut down in the second largest city in Greece in 2012 alone.

Ouch.

And many in the financial world believe the the situation in Greece is going to go beyond the breaking point fairly soon.

In fact, analysts at Citibank believe that there is a 90 percent chance that Greece will leave the euro over the next 12 to 18 months.

90 percent?

They sound pretty sure of themselves.

Not that the rest of Europe is in such great shape either.

According to Bloomberg, it looks like Europe will soon be losing about half a million auto industry jobs….

Efforts by PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG) and Fiat SpA (F) to end losses in Europe could cost more than 500,000 people their jobs as automakers and parts suppliers grapple with the effects of the European sovereign debt crisis.

We live in very unusual times.

Things are falling apart all around us and we seem to be rapidly approaching another major economic crisis.

Central banks, governments and Wall Street insiders all seem to be preparing for the worst.

Are you?

Ok, many of us are aware of most or all of these happenings but do we really think about it? Have you given any thought to what these happenings will mean to you and your family? Do you think that none of this will filter down to your little piece of grass that you call home? Do you think that your money is safe in the bank and that the government will always be there to take care of you?

Well, each of us has to decide what we should do about this for ourselves. All I can say is that if you look all through history, you cannot count on the government to be there for you. (The Great Depression to Hurricane Katrina) This is really too bad as you should be able to count on them but they just do not have the resources. Even if they did, our system is not set up to help the individual. All the government can do is throw money at a problem on a massive level like creating some agency that only sucks up the money that is supposed to get to the people that need help. Bigger government is not the answer.

But we’re way passed that, right now you need to do what you can to prepare to take care of yourself by yourself. What if it was 1928 and you knew the great depression in 1929 was coming. What preparations would you make? Well, believe it or not, you now have a chance to decide. All the signs point to a depression that will not only equal but be worse than 29 so think about what YOU want to do now, before it’s too late.

Ok, there you have it, no partisan politics here, just a summary of what we’re facing as a country and a World. I believe the World will survive and we will come out of all this but also believe the bill is coming due, there will be a correction. The only question is, will you be ready for it?

God Bless

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Good sleep

Posted on August 25, 2012 by dbf

As soon as we dropped the kids at school we headed south in the truck to the Marriott Courtyard where our new bed was waiting for us. By 9am we were home preparing to get the old one out and the new one in. We enlisted Uncle T’s help and were done in a matter of minutes. I called James (the guy who helped take care of my dad) to give him our old bed as we were sure he’d find someone who’d like to have it. The kids were out of school at 11 and the misses had plans to get some new kind of mattress pad to go on it. So after printing out some Bed Bath and Beyond coupons, we were off to Cherry Creek. I didn’t think much about the bed all day but when the evening came, it sure looked comfortable. Looks did not deceive, we both probably had the best night of sleep we have had in years. In fact for me, it was so comfortable, I kept waking up! My sore back is still a little sore but will hopefully get better.

The boys and the misses are sleeping in. I noticed she was swelling a bit (from making her new bed and other stuff) so she was forced to sit down and take it easy. A bit earlier she had cut her thumb pretty deep on one of our pairing knives. I don’t understand as I did the “penny thing” when we bought it! It was no real surprise though as the misses always seems to cut herself. She said it too wasn’t surprising that she did this, just surprising that it took so long!

Part of her being sore and swollen was that most of the afternoon was spent cleaning the house from top to bottom. Now when I get on a roll, I get on a roll. I start in our bedroom and work my way down vacuuming everything and picking up everything in my way. This of course includes moving ALL the furniture. I didn’t see what the misses was doing but I’m sure she was doing too much. The oldest, broken arm and all, was a big help picking things up. The boys had made it all week with no tv or video games so when they arrived home from school, the tv was on and the Ipad was fired up!

Today I need to get the boys outside. As it turns out, they have Monday, Thursday and Friday off next week, plus the following Monday as it’s Labor Day. On top of that, the oldest goes to Frisco Tuesday for an 11:15am appointment with the specialist for his arm.

So let’s see, the garage and house are clean, and so’s the mud room and my office. I think today I’ll organize the kids winter coats and stuff and see who needs gloves and mittens and who no longer fits in their coats.

After dinner I rested a bit before doing the dishes. This was a big mistake as we had made a chicken in the crock pot and you can imagine how crusty that gets. I guess I’ll go to the gym since everyone is still fast asleep. I need to gas up and wash the car too so I might as well get after it. Hope everyone is well, stay safe and have a great weekend. No politics today as I’m trying to stay away for Grandma Dixie!

God Bless,

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Doctors and more doctors

Posted on August 24, 2012 by dbf

Next Tuesday we head up to Frisco to see a orthopedic specialist for the oldest guys elbow. We called Steadman Hawkins, the world famous clinic where the misses went for her neck, and asked who we should take him to here in Denver. To our surprise we were told that they really can’t recommend anyone down here it if was their child. So next week we’re off to Frisco to see Dr.Viola. Hopefully he won’t need surgery.

Thanks to Obama Care our insurance policy’s fine print has deductibles apparently for different types of medical procedures. We had thought we had met our family deductible when we paid $6000 months ago but for specific types of doctors such as a ortho doc for the oldest, there apparently is a separate deductible. The insurance company yesterday told us the oldest hadn’t met his portion for this particular type of doctor. This is surprising as he’s had a few visits this year that included other specialists and lab work that we know we’ve paid for. Apparently the classification is different. One example is we get 4 office visits covered throughout the year with paying a $30 deductible. We’ve used those up so now we pay for the entire visit on our own, regardless of what we’ve paid this year. So long story short is that we’re “covered” meaning we pay the first $750 of this doc and then 20% after that! The insurance lady confided to us that this all changed when Obama Care went into affect. They had to change some rules and classifications to “get around” the Presidents new law, super.

Earlier in the day we went to the misses doctor but not for what you think. You see about 5 years ago, the misses doctor and our long time friend, started her own skin care line that has won all kinds of national and international awards for being the best all natural skin care line as it has nothing in it that is bad for you. Turns out all the stuff most women use and buy (like at Nordstroms and Neiman Marcus) all have ingredients that have been linked to various diseases like cancer. These products of hers are the best and were developed by Christine who had breast cancer herself. She developed these with the main focus of them being good for her patients. She’s tried to launch these on a national level for almost 5 years but unfortunately has been taken by every charlatan there is from New York to Los Angeles. She’s paid out probably $250K to people that have told her they’d do this or that or introduce her to this person or get her in this store or that one and none of it came true. We’ve been talking to her for months about the challenges she has and have known her for years and she’s been asking if I’d take a look at where she’s at and give her my thoughts. So after researching the industry for the past month (which is quite a racket) we met with her to give her our assessment of where she’s at, what her main problems are (packaging, distribution channels, pricing, etc.) and what I think she should do now. The meeting went for a couple hours, which is an hour longer than we all had scheduled, but was quite productive. She’s now going to re-package, re-brand and re-launch. This alone will set her back over $500K but after hearing my views that if she continues on the path she’s on, she’s just wasting more money, and hearing my thoughts on what to do, she agreed that my suggestions are the way to go. Now I’m not charging her any money now as I told her I’d take a look at this initially as a favor. She has however asked if the misses and I would join her and help implement the changes I recommended and of course volunteered to pay us. I told her I really don’t have the time but would see what I could do. This is something the misses could definitely do and do well, once she understands all the ins and outs of the suggestions. So, we’ll keep you posted here as we’re sort of in the skin care business.

We made it home around 4pm and had to rush to get the boys. Grandma Dixie has been commenting but for some reason they are going to my email and not here so I need to check my spam file and put these in. I’ll make sure to find any future comments from her as we enjoy them very much. She and all of you folks that are older than us, are very respected as we value your wisdom from having lived through things we have not. Keep it coming as we do listen to you even if it doesn’t always seem like it.

Our new bed which we ordered in May has finally arrived. It’s at a Marriott sitting in a guest room as they had no place to store it. If you remember, our friends who operate 200 hotels across the country with the ranch in Saratoga, ordered it for us in May at their price which is about 80% off the best price any consumer can find! We’re so excited. Uncle T has agreed to help me move the old one out and the new one in. Thanks much as we’re sure it’ll help the misses neck and my back.

Today is a flex day meaning the kids are out at 11:15. Hard to believe it’s the first week of school and they’re already getting time off!

We’ve almost made it through another week, we just need to take everything one day at a time. The misses is getting better, the oldest one too, work is doing well and our future plans are coming together. Lacey the lab barked at 5:15 to go out so we were all up early but it is what it is. Time to run as we have a big day ahead of us. Take care and God Bless and thank all of you for your various help and encouragement these days, it means a lot!

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A broken arm

Posted on August 23, 2012 by dbf

Here’s a comment from Grandma Annette,

Annette says:

What concert did you see? I love Mumford and Son’s. I have 3 kittys nextdoor that kill the mice in my yard and their yard and I don’t have to feed them. I just talk to them and pat them.

We saw Crosby Stills and Nash but I have to say I’m impressed that you even know who Mumford and Son’s are! You are certainly one of only a few people that read this who know this band!

Now, do you remember when you were a kid and you’d swing on your swing set and you’d go as high as you could and then when you’re at the peak of your forward swing, you’d jump off? Well this is what the boys were doing while we were at the show. The oldest said he flew about 10 feet in the air and was 7 feet up! I don’t know if it was that high but it was high enough for him to break his left arm at the elbow. He went to sleep and then the next morning (yesterday) his arm was swollen and he was saying how it hurt. So Mom kept him home and took him straight to the doctor where they promptly sent him over to Children’s Hospital for x-rays. Chach$ing. His arm was so swollen they couldn’t determine the extent of the break but did know it was broken in some fashion. Next up was a semi soft cast (one that goes on wet and then hardens) so they can watch it for a week to see if it begins to heal. If so, we’re in pretty good shape, if not, they say he’ll then need surgery to have a pin put in! Of course we’re all praying for no surgery on a health and financial level. The oldest called me from the doctor while waiting for the x-rays as he was scared he was going to have to have surgery yesterday. On the financial level, we just cannot handle another medical expense. This has been the worst year for us when it comes to medical issues. I told the misses that hopefully we’re getting it all out of the way now for the rest of our lives!

So he then went to school beaming with his new cast and sling and excited for all the attention he was going to get. His little brother even said he might jump off the swing so he could get a cast and sling too! We quickly told him no need to do that as we’d ask the doctor to just give him a sling to play with. Uncle T called to ask what happened and said he was sure glad this didn’t happen on his watch!

Meanwhile I was at a meeting across town while he was at the doctor so I didn’t see him until we picked him up from school. The rest of the day was spent taking it easy and getting to bed early as everyone was tired.

I’m staying away from politics today but lots of shite (that’s irish for you know what) going on. The lies are flying around from both sides so know one knows what to believe anymore. Just be glad you don’t live in a swing state.

Time to run as it’s now 4:46 and I have to get to the gym this morning. That gives me 15 minutes to read the paper and finish my coffee as I need to leave at 5. Take care and God Bless. Give the oldest a call around 3 today to show some concern and make SURE to talk to the youngest too and ask if he’s ok from jumping off the swing! He might tell you he’s a little sore. Thanks.

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What fun!

Posted on August 22, 2012 by dbf

Here’s two comments from yesterday,

 

  • robi says:

    My pearl of wisdom is – do not get a cat – he will bring the mice in the house fersure!

  • Dixie and Don says:

    I was just wishing I could move to Lakewood, but when you mention mice, I going to have to forget about it. However, if you are putting out poison, don’t get a kitty. We are in a bind trying to find someone who can actually take over and keep our yard in shape–I can’t do it!! We have mow, blow and go gardeners, but they just aren’t doing much. Poor Don and Bill both feel bad that they can’t do that kind of work, so just keep a good vision of someone showing up before I become an even worse shrew than I am already. One good thing about my working outside I get to hear all the bird sounds and get to watch the squirrels antagonize the cats. We are very proud of our two little boys and really miss being able to watch them. Your blog helps to fill the void, so please don’t stop. Love, YO MAMA

    Now just to be fair, I guess there are mice everywhere. Thankfully I think I’ve scared them all over to the neighbors houses. Even my Mom said she’s seen some up at her place!
    Ok now to the day. Lots of work yesterday and then at 5pm we headed up to the concert. Billy’s house at the base of Red Rocks was really nice. It was really well done and I guess a lot of the stars stay there or have their family’s stay there. This weekend Mumford and Sons are staying there. (there a really good new band for those of you who are asking, who?)
    They grilled up some salmon and ribs for all of us and we had a glass of wine (or two) before the show. I had run my truck up to the parking lot when we arrived so it was staged ready for us to get out early and drive home. Turns out this wasn’t needed. At 7:30 a guy named Rob showed up in a white van and picked us up. Rob is the guy that drives the musicians to the stage from their mobile dressing rooms. He had just taken the band to the stage and then came to pick us up. He drove us up through all the security gates passing each checkpoint with a wave to each guard. We were delivered right to the stairs at the back of the stage where the musicians also go in. We walked right up to a lady waiting to check our tickets and then right up to our 9th row seats. The band had just started when we arrived. Now it was great but the band sure was old. These guys must be 70 or so and you could tell it in their voices. Still being in the 9th row, it was great. The misses and I said if we were in the 60th row, we probably would have left. Anyhow it was fun. Right before it was over our friend from Iceland and I walked up to get my truck while the misses and the others in our group walked back to the van for a ride back to the house. I arrived at the house a few minutes after the misses and we said our goodbyes and thank yous and jumped in the truck to head home.
    The boys were asleep, thankfully, and we headed right to bed. It must have been close to midnight when we fell asleep. Today I have a meeting at the distributor at 9 so time to run. Hope all’s well with everyone, take care and have a great day.
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A great day at school

Posted on August 21, 2012 by dbf

The boys made it to school early as they were up and showered on time and ready to go. They both enjoyed their teachers and their new class. The day flew by and we picked them up at 2:45 and headed over to the pool for an after school party. Mom had bought a cake and some balloons and set things up an hour or so earlier. Jen went with us and a few other kids joined us and they swam, ate cake and played hard for about 3 hours. It’s kind of a tradition around here to have a first day of school party and Mom didn’t disappoint.

Lots going on around here and tonight we have the concert at Red Rocks. I think Uncle T and Aunt B are coming to the rescue again by watching the boys. I’m trying to figure out how we can leave a bit early tonight so were not too late. The problem is we’re supposed to go to a house at the base of Red Rocks, park our cars and have dinner and then be shuttled up by limo to the concert. After the show the limo picks us back up and takes us to our cars back at the house. This means I have no way to get to our car if we want to leave a bit early. I’m going to try to see if I can take my car up to the parking lot and have someone pick us up and take us to the pre-party, we’ll see.

The drought is in full swing causing problems nationwide. Lots of fires in the west but for once, they’re not in Colorado. The smoke sure is though as it’s blowing straight into our state on the jet stream. The Mississippi river is so low that boats and barges are stuck! There’s over 100 boats stuck right now trying to get ferried through the low spots so they can deliver their goods. In Dallas the west nile virus (a disease from mosquitos) has killed enough people so that they are spraying by plane trying to kill them. Some say it’s almost biblical, we just don’t notice as we’re all conditioned to these things. One thing is for sure, last month was the hottest on record since they began keeping records sometime in the 1800’s and this drought and the fires are the worst that the western states have ever seen. The World sure is changing or at least going through a cycle we haven’t seen before in our lifetimes. One of the fires is north of Sacramento, hopefully the smoke is blowing away from all of you out there.

There are also 715 cases of whooping cough in Colorado this year which is 557 more than last year. Seems like there’s an epidemic of it this year. They think this is also from the drought. I wonder what the winter will be like. It’ll probably be pretty bad as last year it was really mild.

There are also tons of mice around. I’ve managed to eradicate them from around here but the neighbors all have had them too. We have 4 traps and some Decon out and haven’t caught any for well over a week. I also closed up some holes under the driveway where we saw one run so I think (hope) I’ve managed to get rid of them. The Rossi’s caught one in their house! Thankfully ours were all outside. Next door the Erickson’s had some in their garage. For some reason (the drought again??) there are more this year than we’ve ever seen. Luckily I was all over it, keep your fingers crossed that they’re all gone. if not, we’ll go get a cat!

Where are some “pearls of wisdom” from you? Everyone has to have at least one thing to share with the rest of us, let’s hear it.

Time to run, I need to get some emails finished before everyone wakes up as I missed my window to go to the gym. I just don’t have time. Guess tomorrow I’ll need to get up at 4:30!

Hope everyone is well, stay healthy and safe. God Bless.

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1st day of school

Posted on August 20, 2012 by dbf

That’s right, today’s the day, the 1st day of school of the 2012-2013 year. Remarkably both boys were asleep in their beds by 8pm. It’s 4:57 now and we’ll get them up at 6am or a bit after. It’s so hard to believe that the oldest is in 5th grade and his brother in 3rd. Where does the time go!

Yesterday I cleaned the garage from top to bottom, scrubbed our coolers with bleach and then soap and water and on a whim, washed the big blue truck. It was a pretty productive morning for me. The rest of the day was spent doing things around the house and taking it easy. The good looking one is still doing too much. I’m seriously thinking of tying her up. I have lots of calls this morning but will delay the start of the first one so I can go to school with the boys to see them off. I think Mom has an after school party scheduled as she mentioned it yesterday. Hopefully I’ll have most of my work wrapped up by 2:45 when they get out.

Late in the afternoon I was walking out of the laundry room and I slipped on our clean wood floors and my 2nd toe on my left foot slid right into a corner of a wall. Man it hurt and this morning it’s swollen and discolored. Aren’t you glad I shared? I was at Walgreens and they had a big sale on epsom salts so I grabbed a few bags. I don’t know if you know (you grandma’s probably do) but there’s lots of things that epsom salts are good for. There are lots of great things in your grocery stores that cure a lot of ailments. I’m not talking the “butter on burns” thing (thanks Mom) but things like apple cider vinegar. Let’s get some pearls of wisdom from some of you with more life experience out there (meaning you older people) for the rest of us. Tell us some things that work that the rest of us might be able to use. Let’s say it has to be readily available and cure some sort of ailment. It can cure anything from an upset stomach to itching skin to sore feet to just about anything, you get what I’m talking about. So let’s hear it, pass down some good information for the younger crowd that we can actually use.

I almost forgot, tomorrow night we’re going to a concert at Red Rocks! It’s Crosby Stills and Nash and we have 8th row seats. It’ll be a great show and should be a lot of fun. I think Uncle T and Aunt B committed to watch the boys a month or two ago but it’d be better if we could get a sitter so the boys can go to bed on time. I need to ask the misses this morning.

It’s 5:15, (anyone else up?) so time to run. If I hurry I think I can get to the gym and back before everyone else gets up. Have a fun week, winter will be here soon so get ready. Stay safe and God Bless.

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3 Comments, Yea!

Posted on August 19, 2012 by dbf

Here you go,

  1. Tom says:

    Just a slight correction, Peyton is in his 2 nd game as a Bronco. Probably meant first home game as a Bronco. Just to clarify!

  2. Annette says:

    49er’s will still beat you!

  3. Dixie and Don says:

    I did leave a long, pathetic, poor me remark yesterday using Don’s computer. Thank goodness the computer god was watching and for some reason I hit the wrong thing and the whole miserable mess was lost. Today is much better becaudr Uncle B is feeling better and is driving up toShelly’s place to spend the day. He still has some bleeding, mostly at night, in his mouth and throat. I suspect that this condition is caused by his low level of platletes. (Hope I spelled that word correctly. Also hope that muy diagnosis is correct. He has been feeling quite strong since he had a transfusion of two units last Saturday. Just hope he can make it to Monday when he is tested. Don and I are going for some much needed time together and R&R at the Virgeon Sturgeon around 4:30 this afternoon. YE Y!! Please overlook my errors; I’m not good at corrections. Good escuse, you think? Reading the blog remains to be the high point of my day, so please know that your work is appreciated. YO MAMA

    We love getting comments…keep them coming.

    Last night we all went to the Broncos game.

    Both boys were a wee bit tired by Half Time. It didn’t help that Half Time was at 9 o’clock….I was also a bit tired by then. The boys did try to rally the Mr. and me to stay until the end of the game to no avail.  The youngest had stayed and played at his friend’s house until 2:oop.m. and the oldest had been at the amusement park with Jen from 10:00a.m.- 4:00p.m. running from ride to ride….having a great time.  When the oldest returned home from the Elitches he walked through the door holding a plate with the remains of a funnel cake and grinning literally from ear to ear. The youngest had a fun time as well.  He and his friend played outside from the time they finished breakfast (7:30) until the time he came home.  It is no wonder they were fading at the football game.

    Tomorrow is the first day of school….very exciting for all of us.  I’m planning a mini “First Day of School” party. I’ll take the munchkins and a couple of their friends to the pool after school for some fun and of course cake. A party is just not a party without cake!

    There are a few fun things going on around town today.  Golden is having an Arts Festival with fun kids games, live music, and restaurants showcasing their menus. There is a bike ride to raise $$ for a charity and the Mister just mentioned cleaning out the Garage.  The Garage may be the way to go… especially since there are mice living out front and I am sure when the weather changes in the not so far off future the mice will want to move inside. I certainly don’t want the cute little rodents moving in. I have put out de-con and traps…I’ve caught a couple of mice and the Mister plugged all the holes leading under our house.  I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I guess it all depends on where the critters were at the time the holes were closed. I certainly hope they are not trying to find a way in.  Ugg!  Looks like cleaning the garage is the way to go.

    I am of  to cook breakfast and then to give Bunkie his shot.  I’ve been doing the shots for a few days….looks like I’m back on the job.

    Have a great day and God Bless.

     

     

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The last weekend

Posted on August 18, 2012 by dbf

You gotta love Aunt Robi, she commented right away, thanks,

Robi says:

I will be going to Newport Beach for Labor Day Weekend and the entire following week – can’t wait!!!! I enjoy hearing about the boys. Back to school shopping brings back so many memories. I loved it all, the clothes, supplies etc. I even called up jr. to see if he needed anything from Kohls after reading the blog – hehe!

California, whoo hoo! I’ll bet she’s going to JB’s, her close childhood friend. Right Robi?

Alright, it seems someone high up in the govt read my post as they came out yesterday to explain why they need to buy so many bullets. Apparently they say it’s for practice. All the major networks ran a story saying such. I guess it’s now up to us to decide if each employee need a half a million bullets as that’s what it works out to be. Oh well, nothing much surprises me anymore.

Onto our day. I had lots going on trying to finish up one of the most critical sales events of the year. It’s so critical that if I fail to produce the desired results, it could sink the company for the year. No pressure, huh. Well as you might have guessed, looks like I pulled it out again, hooray. I still have some orders to come in and have extended the deadline to submit orders until Sunday evening but I should beat the goal by at least $100K.

4:30 came fast and we loaded up the boys and their stuff to head off to school to see who their teachers for the coming year would be. Both boys ended up with their first choice. To make things even better, the “problem” kids (those we didn’t want in their classes) were both in other classes with other teachers. There’s always a kid or two that the boys wished was in their class but we’ll take it. Not to brag but our boys are so well adjusted, so polite and so together that even the teachers were happy that our boys ended up in their class. Parents lobby hard for particular teachers, I wonder if teachers lobby hard for particular students or better yet, lobby hard NOT to have particular students! I’ll bet there’s some horse trading going on.

Anyhow our guys will do fine no matter where they land but this could be the best year out of the gate so far.

Earlier in the day I had put 3 racks of ribs in the oven meaning about 10 pounds. We invited our friends over when we ran into them at school to help us eat them all up and they stayed until about 8 when they then took the youngest home with them to spend the night with their son. These are our same new friends that we’re going to Steamboat Lake with in  two weeks. They’re sure nice, no drama whatsoever. What a change from some people we used to hang with.

Today the oldest is going with Jennifer to Elitches, the big amusement park downtown. Jen and him are not in the same class for the first time in their lives but they’ll still be good friends.

Then tonight we’re headed to the Bronco game to see Peyton Manning for the first time! Did you know that when Roy Rogers horse (Trigger) died, they made two casts of his body? One is at the Roy Rogers museum in California while the other sits atop Mile High Stadium here in Denver overlooking our beloved Broncos. Pretty interesting huh, I’ll bet some of you didn’t know that. We won’t stay for the whole game but will check out Peyton and the first team offense. This is a big deal as it’s his first appearance in a game since choosing Denver as his new team.

Time to run, hope everyone is well, let us know if you have any plans for Labor Day. If some of you grandma’s don’t have anything to do, you can come on over and make me a blueberry pie!

God Bless,

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No comments?

Posted on August 17, 2012 by dbf

No comments recently? Maybe everyone’s on vacation.

Yesterday I was out of the office between about 10 and 3. Before that we ran to Target to get the boys school supplies and after that we had friends from Steamboat over for a wine tasting. This of course turned into a 3 hour social event until about 6.

Today I’ll be working the phones getting all my last minute orders in. Yesterday I found out that a friend of mine’s mom passed away. The tragic thing was she found out she had cancer only a week ago! Wow, 7 days and then she was gone. It puts things into perspective doesn’t it. I need to call or email him today to see if there’s anything I can do.

Today at 5pm we go to school and find out which teacher each boy has for the upcoming year. Then we’ll drop their supplies and Monday morning the new year begins. It’s a bit cooler which is nice. You can almost feel a hint of fall in the air. I don’t know about you but fall is my favorite season. The trees changing, hunting season, football, Halloween and Thanksgiving, all make up a great time of year. Someone the other day told me that they love fall because of the new tv season. I was thinking, boy they need to get out more!

Everyone’s still sleeping so I guess I’ll go get in some cardio. I just saw Geena Davis on a tv commercial and it reminded me that we’re going to the Colorado Women’s Foundation  dinner September 20th at our friends home in Cherry Hills. There will be about 60 of us and I donated the wine as it helps single women who are trying to get back on their feet.

Time to run, Labor Day is fast approaching, how about we all post a comment on our plans for the last holiday of summer, whatcha got? let’s hear it.

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