A Year of Change

April showers are here, May flowers should follow. Any moisture is good moisture, especially this year. Ty’s getting a haircut today after work and then leaves for Bozeman tomorrow. Jag is continuing to crush it. We talked yesterday and he’s amazed at how incompetent and unskilled a lot of the salespeople at work are. Most don’t know basic excel! Jag says they’ve been skating by for years. I reminded him that they are just not as smart as him, have no advanced training in programming or coding and don’t even know how to read algorithms, much less write one. He understands but is still amazed how these people making $400k to $600k a year don’t even have basic excel skills. He told me one lady didn’t even know how to highlight a cell! Unbelievable, right?

Lori has developed, pitched and closed a new research program with some company. Should make a few extra hundred thousand dollars a year. She did it all on her own as her Company told her the way she can make extra money is to do more research, so bam, that’s what she did! Gotta love her initiative.

Almost 7am so time to get going. Summer will be here soon. Skiing is done, or should be. A few areas are still squeezing out a few more days. We really need the water up here so hopefully April will bring more rain. Time to go. Have a great day, be well, stay safe and God Bless.

Hard to believe tomorrow is April 1st! Time flies, right? Ty’s off to work, I’m out the door for a 9am meeting in Denver, and Lori will soon be headed out the door to work.

Nice day yesterday. A little windy but sunny. I need to get someone out here to fix our screen door as Harley went running through one and jacked it all up. I got a number from a company that installs windows in most of the new construction up here.

Marty and Melanie called from their cruise in Tahiti. Today they’re in the Marquesas Islands which are about 1000 nautical miles from Tahiti. They were first settled in 800-1000 AD. Nothing there now, but they are really beautiful and part of French Polynesia. So far, it’s been a great trip.

Rain coming in tonight. Should last until tomorrow night and then a little more on Friday. We’ll take any we can get.

That’s it, on to April! God Bless.

Nothing big headed our way, just a little rain and snow mix with cooler temps. Looks like it’ll stick around through Easter. No big, we need the moisture.

Yesterday Lori went to get her hair done in Glenwood Springs and I hung around the house. Abbey called from Tennessee worried about Davy and the kids, so I went up to check on them and bring them some dinner and hung out for a while. They were fine. Sometimes Abbey overreacts.

Ty works at 9 and I have my conference call at 10. This week I’ll finally get some cleaning up in the basement. Crappy weather will do that to you.

I think I’m allergic to nuts. They seem to make me itch these days. Never was before but guess things change as you get older. Strange right?

Lori loves her new car! It’s super cool. She had fun driving it to Glenwood and back yesterday. She said it handles much better than the Cayenne. Sometimes it felt like you weren’t in control in the Cayenne as the steering was really sensitive.

Denver is still a mess. Shootings every day down there. Glad we don’t live there and glad Tommy got out. I think he closes on his house pretty soon, if he didn’t already. Good for him.

That’s about it for the day. Time to get moving. I’m off to the gym before my day starts at 10. Take care and have a good start to the week, God Bless.

Check out Lori’s new ride! Sweet!

It took us a few hours longer than it should have, but in the end all is well. Lori’s new car is an amazing vehicle. I’d researched it hard and knew what we were getting into but had no idea just how great of a car it is. I drove it around town and home, so we have about 200 miles on it as of this morning. I did make Lori test drive it before we bought it to make sure she liked it. We both love it. Today she’s getting her hair done in Glenwood this afternoon, so she’ll get a good drive in. Being the GTS, the tires are a little more performance style tires, meaning they’re a bit lower profile, so she needs to watch out for huge potholes. You need to do that with any car though, so nothing new. The only after market protection I ever buy is the tire and wheel package. It’s about $2K and covers wheel and tire damage. Usually when I buy this, nothing happens, when I don’t, we wreck tires and wheels monthly, ha. That’s the way things work.

We stopped by to see Raz who measured Lori for a new chain. It’ll be done late next week. We have a fair amount of junk jewelry that we can melt down for credit, if we want, and he’ll make Lori something she likes. We’ll see. We might just keep all the junk to go with our other junk.

Looks like we have some weather coming in Tuesday through Thursday. We’ll take any moisture we can get. I’m sure Lake Dillon has been this low, or lower before, but I can’t remember seeing it as low as it was yesterday for late March. It should be filling up now with snow melt, but most of the snow is already melted. Arizona and California are going to have a hard time, as they get (steal), all their water from us. As mom would say, it is what it is.

April 1st Wednesday! Hard to believe. Ty’s off today and he and I might play golf or hit some balls while Lori gets her hair done. The kids in Chicago are hanging with Julie, Ava’s mom. I’m sure they’re having fun. Ty’s off to Bozeman on Thursday. The ski areas are shut down up there, so he won’t be taking his snowboard. I’m sure he’ll still have fun. He only owes $1452 left on his truck! That means in 15 months, the kid paid off his $51,000 truck! Good for him. I told him it’s like he has $35,000 in savings as his truck is worth at least that much! Next up he’s saving to move. We think California, but he’s not sure yet. We’ll see. One thing is for sure; Lori and I will soon be alone with both boys out of State. No worries, we’ll go visit!

That’s it, have a great last Sunday of March and God Bless.

Off to Denver this morning to pick up Lori’s new Porsche Macan GTS. The GTS is the top model with lots of horsepower and gets 10/10 from all the car gurus. 2026 is the last year they’re making an all-gas Macan GTS, so the car will not only hold value, but it’ll also actually go up! They sell for MSRP, but my buddy is the sales manager so I’m getting 4% off plus another $2500 from Porsche. It’s known as the 911 of SUVs. It also has more legroom than the larger Cayenne which she owns now. Dealers get around one GTS every 60 days or so. We’re both excited! Lori does keep reminding me it’s her car though, ha.

Yesterday the cleaners came and cleaned. Ty went to Denver last night to play paintball today. He’ll come home tonight. We’re running back to the jeweler after picking up the car to get Lori’s new chain. We’re also taking down a huge bag of gold, emeralds, rubies and diamonds, we’ve accumulated over the years, to have Raz make it all into something cool Lori will actually wear. I voted to sell the gold, but that was a big no from Lori. I don’t really care, whatever makes her happy.

Lot’s happening at work. I interviewed a girl yesterday who I think will be a really good fit. Think I’ll hire her Monday. She used to work with Kate, my new girl who is crushing it. I tell everyone I interview that we’re a bunch of pirates and doing things that are 100% unconventional. There’s lots of chaos in the alcohol industry right now and if you’re not doing things differently, you don’t stand a chance. Chaos is my middle name though, so things seem to be working, ha.

That’s it, have a great Saturday and God Bless.

Should be a little cooler today, especially down in Denver. Not sure it’ll be much different up here. Then we’re back to the 80’s. Yesterday after running to Denver, we made it home and Oscar from our heating company, came over. Turns out the furnace just needed a fuse. While he was here, he changed the tank on our humidifier. I loaded them up with beef from the ranch as they respond to me within minutes whenever I have a problem. They were super thankful.

In Denver I took Lori to Raz’s, (our new jeweler buddy) and he has a new chain coming in for her which will arrive today. We’ll pick it up tomorrow. We’re going through all our old stuff (jewelry), in the safe and taking it down as Raz is going to use it to make something new for Lori. I was thinking of making gold dog tags for the boys with all our names on it. We’ll see. On the way out of town, we stopped at this cool liquor store close to where Jag and Ava used to live to get some more of Lori’s favorite champagne. She doesn’t drink much but really likes this one kind. The girl there remembered us and Jag and was super helpful. We should be good on bubbles for the year.

Today the house cleaners come around noon. That means we need to clean before they can clean. Kind of makes no sense. 6:30am and still dark outside. Sort of strange.

Work is going really well. All kinds of chaos in the industry but chaos creates all kinds of opportunities. More to come. I’m interviewing another girl today. It’s tough in one way as it’s out with the old, and in with the new, meaning a couple people that have been here for 15 and 20 years, will soon be gone. Sadly, two people I have don’t have the skill set for what today’s market and the Company needs. I am going to offer a straight commission job to both of them so if they want to stay they can. If not, I’ll give them a three-month severance package and send them on their way. I have to do what’s best for the Company, our investors, and the rest of the people here, including me. Tough times require tough decisions.

Ty’s off to work, Lori is washing the sheets and I’m putting the trash out. Then it’s off to the gym. Last Friday of March, hard to believe as it feels like the last Friday of May! Have a great day and weekend, God Bless.

Wow, 80 degrees up here yesterday, and of course the a/c isn’t working. Thankfully we just open the windows and it cools down fast as the sun goes down. Our a/c guy is probably coming late this afternoon. Ty golfed yesterday and then jumped in the river afterwards as it was so hot! After some calls, I met up with the guys for a cigar.

This morning Lori and I are maybe going to run down to Denver to get her a longer chain for her dog tag anniversary present. It’s really cool and she loves it. I bought her a huge flower arrangement that was here when she made it home from work. She’s such a good girl. I’m waiting to see if our a/c guy is coming this morning or what time he can fit us in. Nice and cool in the house now as we sleep with the windows open.

Jag is doing well but busy. 70 degrees in Chicago! Crazy warm weather. Will probably be a bad year for fires. Hope not.

Time to go, have a great day, GB

Today is our 26th anniversary! What a ride. I’m one of the lucky ones as I love Lori more and more each day. She’s my calm in the storm and always has my back. Can’t wait to see what the coming years bring. 26 years ago today we were married at La Posada Resort in Scottsdale. It was a great wedding, probably the second best wedding I’ve ever been to. Our friends daughters in Aspen still holds the #1 spot. You might remember that from a post years ago.

Yesterday I was in Denver by 9am as I had a few errands to run and then met up with Shultz for a cigar and a meeting. After that I met up with a new friend through Tina who is a jeweler in town. I’d met his dad years ago but never really knew Raz. I found a great gift for Lori and now have a new jewelry guy. Our friend Tina and Robi both said they want to buy the gift if Lori doesn’t like it. Both of them are out of luck as she loves it! His daughter plays guitar and I’m trading him an acoustic for $4k to $5k credit next time down! He’s literally the top guy in town, so they say. I’ll take Lori down and let her pick out or design something she wants for her birthday. She needs the chain on her new necklace to be a little longer so she can wear it with her other necklace at the same time. So happy she loves it!

Ty is taking the day off as he’s been working a ton. I’m off to the gym and Lori has a big lunch meeting with another group in the Company.

Lots happening at work. All good, but tons of moving parts. It’s 6am now as we woke up at 5:30. We were going to go to dinner tonight but will do that another day as Lori won’t be home until around 6pm.

That’s it, it’s surreal to think about all we’ve done in 26 years. What a ride with hopefully 26 more years to come. God Bless.

Lori’s new black and white diamond dog tag necklace! The picture doesn’t do it justice.

Me and my lovely wife! Dinner in Chicago a few weeks ago.

Ski areas are closing and cities are already putting in water restrictions. Looks like a dry summer unless we get some good Spring rains or maybe one more snowstorm. The later looks unlikely according to the so called experts.

I’m off to Denver as Shultz who is connected with all the convivence stores nationwide and the organization that runs them, let me know the group would like to donate something like $100K or more to a charity. I’m introducing them to James’s bands charity as the national convention is in Vegas the same time the boys are playing the Sphere. Their foundation supports all kinds of people and careers that don’t include college, mostly trades and stuff like that. I’m the go-between that can put the right people together. I’m also exchanging some shirts for a smaller size, and a few other errands I can’t talk about until tomorrow!

Ty works again today and so does Lori. I’d like to get out of here by 7 or so which is in about an hour. Jag is studying hard to pass the SEC tests and working at the same time. Ava’s mom comes to visit this weekend. Should be fun for her.

That’s it. Have a great day, take care, be well, stay safe and God Bless.

Lots going on. It’s a busy week. Ty’s headed to work, Lori will soon follow and I’m off to the gym before my 10am conference call. Nice up here, 78 degrees yesterday. Tom said it was 57 in Denver yesterday.

Yesterday we did a lot around the yard and grilled up some steaks. Ty went to a concert in Vail around 4. Davy let him park in his parking spot which is huge as that saves at least $40! He made it home around 11pm I think. Lori heard him but I was asleep.

We talked with Jag and Ava a bit. There’s a nice apartment, close to the lake and in the same building as our favorite restaurant in Chicago, for about $4500 a month. It’s only a one bedroom and 750 square feet but as they say, location, location, location. They might just get it for a year. We said we’d help a bit if it was a few hundred a month too much for their budget. We’re sure that in a year they’ll be doing fine. It’s just getting out of the starting gate that’s tough.

I forgot to mention yesterday that when Ty finished work at 10pm Saturday night, he went to the gym! He’s all in, 100% committed. Talk about dedication, wow. Good for him.

6:30am now, time to get moving. Have a great day, GB.