A Year of Change

I started to hear the thunder around 4am or so. At 5:30 the downpour started. Lori jumped up to shut the window and asked me to get a towel as water was coming in like someone put a hose through the window. I ran upstairs to make sure Ty’s windows were shut. Thankfully they were. It was a good storm that started out like someone poured a giant bucket of water over the neighborhood. It’s more like a steady normal rain now at 6:20am. It’s officially time to break out our boots, coats and cowboy hats.

Ty’s getting ready for work, and we’ll go to the gym. Lori has a fire going right now in the living room. Jag and his friends are having fun. They’re taking the train up to Evanston where Northwestern University is. It’s a night game and I think this is the last game in the old stadium which it says, only holds something like 12,000 people. We’re the underdog but that’s ok. One of his friends brought CU ponchos for everyone as they’re supposed to have thunderstorms during the game, fun!

There’s a small chance of rain tomorrow for the Bronco game. Ty might go down tonight after work. Looks like the 70’s all next week. We have Andrea Bocelli on Monday at Red Rocks. Right now it looks clear but we’ll for sure take rain gear.

That’s it, here are some pics from Chicago. Enjoy your Saturday, God Bless.

Made it to Denver by 11:30 and was headed home by 1. The new truck, or the War Wagon, as it’s now known, is great! The suspension is a huge upgrade from my previous truck and so are the seats. This truck is Chevy’s top of the line off road beast, so it’s equipped with skid plates, the aforementioned high-end suspension, better seats and a bunch of other stuff not found on any other model. My dealer had ordered one with this upgraded color that is called Cyprus Grey but is actually more like a cross between grey and British Racing Green. I love it as I’ve never seen one anywhere else. Supposedly they made this color for a limited time and now no longer make it.

I have an aftermarket bumper and light bar that’ll go on in a week or so from Kyle up in Boulder. Then we’ll be set.

We’re all up early as Lori has a research patient going into surgery and Ty has to pick something up on the way to work. I’ll go to the gym and then have some breakfast with Ty.

Jag’s friends arrived last night. I think he took the day off today. Good rain up here but it’s warmer than you’d think for mid-September. We should have snow up on the peaks but not much is there. We really need snow this year.

Time to get moving, have a great day, be safe and God Bless.

That time of year. With my truck at 25,000 miles, it’s time to swap it for another truck. Think of us like a car rental company. Whenever their vehicles get to 15,000 miles or so, they swap them for new ones. When you put a lot of miles on your vehicles, this is what you should do. In the end, with the dealer incentives and rebates, I pretty much get the same truck (this time a nicer model), same year, with zero miles instead of 25,000 miles, all for $3,000. It’s a no brainer as I also get the tax benefit. I thought of going to gas with diesel being so expensive but just can’t do it. Diesels have better mileage, run longer and hold their value, whereas gas vehicles drop in value like a rock. I should be in and out of the dealer in 30 minutes as I’m like a commercial customer and all my stuff is on file.

Feds raised interest rates yesterday. Is what it is. Rates are never going back to zero where they once were. 4 or 5% on a car loan or 6% on a house is actually a good deal. Remember in the 1970’s, interest rates were 18-20% on home loans! The economy and consumer spending is actually doing well. When you have the high oil prices, like now, the decision to raise rates was necessary.

Ty’s off to work. Lori works from home today and Jag’s six friends from college arrive tonight for the weekend. It’s 5 guys and one girl, and they’re all staying at Jag’s and going to the CU Northwestern game Saturday night. Should be a fun weekend for all of them.

Time to go to the gym before I head to Denver to pick up the new truck. Have a great day, GB.

Off to Denver this morning for a meeting on the knife sharpener company. It’s really taking off, finally. Got our first checks yesterday which was nice. These days, anything helps!

I should be at Toby’s around 9 in the morning and out of Denver a little after 12 noon. I have to pick up one of my guitars in Old Town Arvada where it was having some work done.

Ty works at 7 and Lori works around 8. Kay, one of my Partners, headed out to Italy last night for a month. I had a brutal day of calls but in the end, put together a deal that makes the Company a million dollars. The beautiful thing was, all I did was change from one supplier to another, and the new one is giving me a million dollars for the right to sell me product for the next 5 years. They’re basically paying me to buy product from them. That’s how crazy things are these days, and how bad people need business. They’ll get $10 million in business from me for a huge account in Texas and will probably make around 4 million in the end, so it’s a good deal for them too.

Nice and cool up here with rain every day. Time to get moving, have a great hump day, God Bless.

Today most of us that work, have to pay more taxes. Colorado is now #5 in having the highest (worst), taxes with only California, Illinois, New York and Washington State ahead of us, nice. We have to get out of here, for sure before the next Presidential election.

Ugly loss last night for the Broncos. It was just one of those games. Ty drove down to Denver to watch it with his buddies but left to drive home before it was over.

I have calls at 9:30, 10 and 11, that are scheduled. The rest of the day will be filled up with more calls after that. Ty works at 8.

Ryan, my dentist, put my new crown on yesterday. He also has this new polish machine that sprays glycine on your teeth to clean them. It’s like sandblasting your teeth. It’s crazy how well it works. Your teeth turn white instantly. Lori and Ty both want it.

Cooler temps up here. Rain all week. About time, bring it on. God Bless.

We landed around 8:30am and were home by noon. We did stop for groceries in Golden at Whole Foods. Man were we tired. Ty cleaned up well for us which is always nice. Harley was of course excited to see us. I think we went to sleep around 7 and woke up at 5:30 this morning.

It was a great trip but we were on the go the whole trip. We managed to get a lot done which is good. Today I have a crown put on my broken tooth at 8:50am, need to find time to get to the gym and probably should go to the dump, as Ty forgot to put the trash out. Ty is off today so maybe I’ll get him to go to the dump with me.

Big game tonight with the Broncos playing the Chiefs. It starts at 7:30 which is 8:30 in KC, which is late for a game. Looks like rain coming in tonight and there could even be a dusting of snow up on top of the peaks. Highs will be in the 70’s all week. It’s in the 40’s outside right now. The seasons are changing.

Almost 6am now, time to get going. Have a great day, be well and God Bless.

We had a great day yesterday doing some shopping, eating and watching CU win! Ava landed around 1pm and was over at Jag’s by 3. We had dinner reservations at 4:45 and were at Mon Ami Gabi until around 6:45. Ava’s birthday is today! Happy Birthday Ava!

In the morning we had met Tom, the Managing Director of Jagger’s Company for coffee. When Jag was getting coffee, Tom asked me if Jagger had any brothers! He’s so impressed with Jag and is a great mentor for him. Tom was at Citigroup for 33 years, including the bad ones when Lehman Brothers went down. We hung out and talked for an hour or so about business and life.

We’re up early at 3:50am for a 4:45am pickup for a 7am flight. We should land around 8:30am in Denver and be home by 11ish.

Great time seeing Jagger and Ava. We got a lot done and his apartment is looking great. He has six friends coming in Thursday night for the CU vs. Northwestern game Saturday night. There’s also a CU Alumni party in Chicago this weekend. Ava has to go to Arkansas for work, so she’ll miss the game.

It’ll be good to get home as there’s no place like home. Chicago was beautiful and the weather was great. Of course, we only go to the good places in the city. That’s it, time to get moving as our driver will be here shortly.

Have a great Sunday and God Bless.

Yesterday, Jag did work from home all day. It was like he was at the office as he was on the phone and computer with people non-stop until around 4pm. I had a call at 9:15 and then Lori and I headed out.

First up was Target for more stuff for the house. Then we walked to a hardware store to make extra house keys. When we made it back to Jag’s, neither of the sets of keys worked, so we walked back to the hardware store to return them. Later in the day, around 5, we went up the street for Italian food for dinner. After dinner, around 8, UPS delivered an armoire type cabinet and Jag and I carried it up the stairs. Lori and Jag then put it together.

This morning at 9:30 we’re meeting Tom for coffee. He’s the managing director at Jagger’s work. He wanted to meet us if we had time. After that, it’s off to Michigan Avenue for some shopping for Jagger. He needs another suit and some winter boots for the coming snow.

Ava lands from California around 1 where she’s been for work. We’re all going to dinner at 4 as we have to get up around 4am for our 7am flight home tomorrow.

6am now and time for coffee. Have a great Saturday and God Bless.

We landed at 9 in Chicago but it took us 40 minutes to get to the gate. Once off the plane we found our driver and headed downtown to pick up the house keys from Jagger. Ten minutes later we were at his place. When we opened the door, there it was. A mess like you’ve never seen. Clothes, trash, dishes, old food, unbuilt furniture and anything else you could think of, everywhere! We expected it to be bad, but not this bad. We left our suitcases by the door, (couldn’t get them in through all the stuff on the floor) and went to work.

I had some computer stuff to do but Lori rolled up her sleeves and attacked the place head on. That’s an expression as she didn’t really “roll up her sleeves”. About 3 hours later, with most of the work done by Lori, she had the place looking like new. Then it was off to Whole Foods in an Uber. $350 bucks later and we were on the way back to Jag’s with supplies in tow.

Lori made some food and continued cleaning around the house. Finally, around 8:30 or so, Jag made it home from work as he had an event to go to after his day at the office. We stayed up until around 10 but then had to crash as we were so tired from getting up at 3:30 that morning for our flight. It’s 6:30am now and we’re still tired!

Jag works from home today and I have a call at 9:15. Lori and I will then go to Target for some cleaning supplies and stuff you don’t buy at Whole Foods. Good to be here as Lincoln Park is great and of course, great to be with Jagger.

Ty worked a party last night at a giant house that looked like it was straight out of Yellowstone. He texted me pics. He’s taking good care of Harley of course.

Last, it’s been 25 years since 9/11 and look how far we’ve come! Socialists and radical Islam are now acceptable to over half of the Democrats in the Country! I don’t have much to say as frankly, I’m shocked. To the thousands that died that day, due to radical Islam, prayers for them and their loved ones, rest in peace. We’d better get our shit together before it’s too late!

Time to get moving. Have a great Friday and God Bless.

We’re taking off at 6am this morning for Chicago. We came down last night and checked into the Westin using some of our points. They must have known we’re Platinum guys as they upgraded us to a corner suite. We don’t stop at the front desk or talk to anyone as I use the mobile key app on my phone. Don’t think either of us said a word to anyone in the hotel at all.

Yesterday Jag was the underwriter on his first big deal. It was a $150 million dollar deal for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is a fancy way of saying Massachusetts. In any case, it’s a big deal as Jag did the entire deal by himself. I can’t even fathom what all he does.

Ty worked most of the day and then came home with a headache. We saw him briefly around 3 as we pulled out of the driveway to go to Denver. He took a 3-hour nap and then headed out around 6:30 to go to a going away party for a co-worker.

We’ll land around 9:30 this morning and hopefully find our driver by 10 as I have a call with Italy. Our driver will take us to Jag’s work to get his house keys and then take us to the house. Lori, I’m sure be cleaning while I work, and she’s making something for dinner too.

Supposed to be nice in Chicago, with temps around 75 degrees. Hope so as we packed pretty light. That’s it, time to go, have a great day, God Bless.