A Year of Change

Yesterday Lori and I went to our friend Mark’s church. He’s catholic so it was a little strange, almost cult like. Still, it was good to go to church on Easter as you always get something from the message. I can’t remember the last time I went to church, but I do pray every day and try to follow the teachings of the bible. So does lovely Lori, who looked beautiful yesterday, as always.

First full week of April, lots going on. Ty gets home tonight and has had a great time. Jagger and Ava had her cousins in town over the weekend and are back at work. I think Jagger is taking the big SEC test this week. Lori is working hard and received the approval for her new research program which should be a money maker for her. She put the whole thing together herself. After the site visit last Monday, she received the approval late last week. She’s pretty amazing at the things she just does, without any formal training or past experience.

Today I’m hiring the second member of my new national account team. Kim is a recently divorced single mom of two boys, I think 7 and 8 years old. She’s a firecracker and can hang with any of the good old boys in Texas and around the Country. Her largest account is Costco, which is a top target for me nationwide. So now I have two new women on board! Both she and Kate will make a good team and have worked together on accounts in the past, which was a big part of why I’m hiring her.

Subsequently, later this week I’m either changing the pay of two of my long-term employees to straight commission, or flat out letting them go. This has been a long time coming and I don’t take it lightly, but as I’ve said in earlier posts, tough times call for tough decisions. I need to get over to Italy too, maybe late May or early June. I was going to take the kids, but I think Lori and I will just go.

I think we’re going to Chicago for Lori’s birthday. Should be nice weather by then. All the snow from our big snowstorm that brought a foot of snow last Friday, is all gone! It was 68 up here yesterday! We needed the water though, so no complaints.

Time to head to the gym, take care, be well and God Bless.

He is Risen. That’s the saying of the day. Let’s see, that would have been 2026 years ago! How would you have liked to live back then? The priority of the day back in those times was to somehow get some food, stay warm, and basically survive the famine, disease, oppression, weather and dangers of the time, until the next day. We’ve all seen the movies. There were no grocery stores, no heated dwellings, except your fireplace, no real doctors or medicine, none of the comforts of modern times. You had to make your own clothes somehow which were basically rags. Hell. even getting water each day was a chore. Not sure many people today would survive a week back then. For sure the entitled people who think life owes them something, wouldn’t. Talk about the haves and have nots. It couldn’t have been any clearer back then as there was royalty and then the rest of the people were peasants. Then a man, the son of God comes along, dies for your sins and saves you. Not being there, I can see why some people question this whole story, but if you read the bible, or scholars like C.S. Lewis, it’s inconceivable not to believe it, at least to me. Faith is a powerful thing and the question is, if you don’t believe in God and have faith, what do you believe in. I’ll stop now rather than get into a theological discussion on religion, but I do pray that everyone has faith in a higher power.

Yesterday we did some things around the house. Tom and I were texting back and forth during the Nuggets and Av’s games. Both great wins. Ty had a good time boarding at Big Sky in Montana. Guess they had a concert on the mountain. Jag and Ava have Ava’s cousins in town for the weekend. I talked with Robi who had some of Bobby’s family up visiting for Easter. She had to put her dog down last week. So sad but the right thing to do.

We’re off to church soon so time to get going. Have a great Easter and enjoy the day. Thank God today that Jesus died for you! Imagine what kind of World it would be if things were different. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read the bible or watch one of the many movies on tv. Try the 10 Commandments! God Bless you, now go find your easter basket!

The bright blue sky paired with the white blanket of snow outside, looks like a painting. The trees and sage brush yesterday looked like they had big cotton balls all over them. This will surely help the snowpack. It was probably the best snowstorm of the year, and it took until April for it to arrive. It’ll all be melted in 48 hours or so.

Ty’s having fun in Bozeman. I found a small piece of land I’d like to buy about 90 minutes north of Bozeman. It’s about 160 acres but has it all. Mountains, tress, water, wildlife and more. I wouldn’t build a house there, but it would be a fun place to own. We’ll see how desperate the sellers are. Be a good legacy property for the boys.

Not sure what we’ll do today. Probably some purging around here. We might go see a movie called Hail Mary and maybe grab an early dinner somewhere. We’ll see. Right now, we need to head out to the gym.

Oh, yesterday, I picked up a package at the post office from Robi. She sent me a sleeveless jean shirt! Thanks sis! It fits me right now, so I hope it doesn’t shrink. I also will have to hide it from Ty, or I’ll never see it again, except in his dirty laundry.

Here’s a few pics of the property I’m checking out.

God Bless.

It’s a holy day and if you don’t know what it’s all about, here’s a little tutorial!

According to the Gospels, Jesus was arrested, tried and sentenced to death by crucifixion. Christians believe he died on the cross, was buried in a tomb and rose from the dead three days later on Easter Sunday.

There are a few explanations for why such a somber day would be referred to as “good.” As Dictionary.com explains, the word “good” had several meanings in Old English. In references to “Good Friday” in the 1200s, “good” appears to be synonymous with “holy” or “solemn.” A similar example of this use of “good” may be the description of the Bible as “the Good Book.” Other scholars suggest today’s word may have evolved from other terms and that the original observance may have been an iteration of “God’s Friday.”

Another interpretation centers on theology: Christians believe Jesus’ death brought salvation and forgiveness of sins, making the day “good” in a spiritual sense.

Take a moment to reflect on the day and be thankful that Jesus died for your sins.

SNOW! Not all the places in the mountains got much, but I’ll bet I had a foot, of wet heavy snow on the truck this morning. It took me a good hour, maybe an hour and a half, to shovel the driveway. Now I’m headed to the gym. We need the snow bad and this being so high in water is a good one which should help.

Jag called this morning. He has a half day, and most people didn’t go in to work but he did because the bond market is open. The stock market is closed. He’s doing well. We have to get him an apartment this month as he and Ava each had to pay $3k for their $6k rent in the Airbnb this month. Lori is doing well and so am I.

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

4:40am now and Ty’s showering while we’re slugging down some coffee. We’ll leave at 5:30 to drop him at the airport in Eagle and then head straight to the gym. We’ll be home by 8 as our heating / ac guy is coming back as somehow, we blew a fuse again. They’ll hopefully find what caused it this time.

Ty’s taking his snowboard as I guess Big Sky had a good shot of snow in the past few days. He’s back Monday.

I have a ton going on at work. With the big changes I’m making, things are changing daily. I had a great third interview with a girl named Kim who used to work with my new girl, Kate. I told Kate, if you say I should hire her, I will, if not, I won’t. Kate’s been great and knows the chain world better than anyone in the Company right now, so she has the best feel for who else to bring on board. Kate likes her a lot, so after checking a few references, (who puts bad references on their resume, right?) which checked out, I’ll hire her on Monday. My new team is coming together. I’ve doubled the number of females in the Company in two weeks! These two ladies are going to crush it.

Cooler yesterday but no snow here, just a little rain. Think it’s supposed to stay this way until Saturday and then warm back up. Jag is doing well.

Lance, my buddy who runs the Porsche dealer, found a Porsche computer mouse, which have been sold out for over a year, and sent it to Lori! She’s super excited as she ‘s wanted one for a couple years! I texted her when it arrived and told her it works great and she texted back, noooo! She was bummed I opened it and was using it, but alas, I April fooled her! Bwaaah.

That’s it, 5am now and time to get dressed for the gym. Have a great day and God Bless.

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.