A Year of Change

Must have been in the 90’s up here yesterday. I was out of Denver by noon and didn’t really notice it, but it was 82 degrees at 8 o’clock in the morning as I made it into town. The highlight of the day was hanging out with Brook in Elizabeth at his shop, Powder River Hat Company. He came in early and opened the shop to take care of me. His dad was a Denver Bronco in the early 60’s. We have a lot in common but he’s a dozen or so years younger than me. He reworked four of Lori’s and my hats and measured me up in case I want him to build me one. He’s seeing what pelts he can get. Next up, down in Parker, I stopped by to see Jim who is my favorite bootmaker. Both Brook and Jim are part of the Cowboy Trades Association, which is a group of traditional artists from saddle makers to bootmakers, hatmakers and more that make things in the old the way, the way they did 150 years ago. I met these guys as the silversmith who made my favorite buckle I bought 4 years ago, and who made Lori’s Christmas present last year, (a sweet ladies buckle), is part of the group. Jim started working on my boots last October 14th and they should be done hopefully in a few months. I stopped in to say hi and he showed me my lasts, which are the handmade models of my two feet and had me confirm again the leather colors I chose last year. Super excited. I posted this link before but check it out again. It should open up to a two-minute video to tell you about these guys. Really talented men and really good guys. Jim and Brook are now good friends more than they are someone who makes something for you. Us old guys need to stick together.

COWBOY TRADES ASSOCIATION – SUPPORTING TRADITIONAL COWBOY ARTIST AND ORGANIZATIONS.

Jim, my bootmaker, is the guy in the glasses, Brook is the guy working on hats in the video and Ernie, who made our buckles, is in the brown shirt at the end. I try to support these guys in any way possible as without them, the old ways and a part of American history will vanish.

I’m holding off on a new car, at least for today. Even with the massive discount, I just love my truck too much. I should buy the Mercedes and keep the truck, but I don’t want any debt.

I have calls this morning from 10 until 1 and Lori is working out with Stacey at 9:30. We’ll probably go to our gym first and then she can go workout again. Ty works at 7.

A week from now we’ll be in Cabo. It’ll be nice to be by the ocean and have fresh seafood daily. It’ll be a quick trip as we arrive at noon Wednesday and fly home around noon on Saturday.

It’s almost 6am now and time to get moving. Hope everyone is doing well. Take care, be safe and God Bless.

Today I have a couple stops at one of my custom cowboy hatmakers and then a stop at the bootmakers. First up is a little work in Denver. I should head back up the hill around noon at the latest if I’m lucky.

Ty went to a concert last night with Maddie, his old girlfriend. Apparently, she quit drinking, but they’re just friends, hmmm.

Marty is having fun working on the house in Montana. They head home Friday. I worked out super hard yesterday with heavy weights. I’m sure I’ll be sore by tomorrow, if not earlier.

Hitting the road by 6am this morning so time to go. Have a great Hump Day, GB.

We made it to Denver after stopping for rock scaling on Vail Pass. Lori had her checkup and I had my stitches out. We made it home around 4. Harley had a bone in the morning and somehow brought it inside, which of course, resulted in ants! We managed to get rid of them and as of this morning, we haven’t seen any more.

A month or so ago I was looking at some new cars as I’ve been trying to get a diesel Suburban. I was also looking at the Mercedes GLS 450’s which are luxurious cruisers around the same price. Last night, one of my dealers, after some emails back and forth, offered me $16,000 off! This is a huge discount on a current model year car. I’m trying to decide what to do. Trade my truck, keep my truck and get the Mercedes, or just stand pat with my truck. It sure would be nice to have a comfortable cruiser like the GLS. Ben has one he bought around six months ago and loves it. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Ty is working again today. Chef Bob fell off the wagon at work yesterday and got drunk and the paramedics had to come as he passed out. He’s been in rehab three times. So sad. Molly, the other owner, is flying back early from Wisconsin. Luckily Ty was there and has been working every day as he’s one of the only ones that can really run the place.

Nice up here and hot in Denver. Hotter tomorrow. Time to go, have a great day, take care and God Bless.

Lori has a derm appointment at 1 and I am getting my stitches out. Brian and his son Tyler made it to Glenwood around 8:30 last night and Lori told them to just stay there and let’s visit this morning. They should be here sometime around 8 this morning.

Nice day yesterday. Not too hot which was nice. Looks like 100 degrees in Denver by Wednesday.

Looks like the Iran deal might finally be done. We’ll see as you can’t really trust those guys. Ty’s out the door and Lori is on the shower. The Rockies scored 23 runs yesterday which is a record. Sounds like a football score as you don’t normally see that many runs scored in baseball.

Time to get moving. Have a great middle of the month day. It’s also Tax Day but as I said a day or two ago, I paid them on Friday. What a waste. Taxes should be illegal. When income tax started, it was a temporary thing but in 1913, 3/4 of the States ratified the 16th Amendment and the great steal was on. Property taxes are another rip off of the people. Once you own and pay off your home, there should be no more property taxes. Oh well, the people in power only care about their power, so this probably will never change.

Time to go, enjoy writing that check! God Bless.

Denver looks cooler today, but it still looks like the mid 80’s up here today. Ty’s off to work and we’re sitting here drinking our morning coffee with the door open to cool down the house.

Yesterday Lori cleaned out Jag’s bathroom and we took it easy. I picked up sushi for dinner, and we watched a little tv. Not sure what we’ll do today. I said let’s go to Denver as it’s only going to be 70 degrees down there. Looks like the 90’s most of next week.

Cousin Brian and his son Tyler arrive sometime tomorrow. They’re on a 12-day trip I think to South Dakota. Lori and Brian basically grew up together. Lori does have a derm appointment at 1 tomorrow, but I’m not sure if we’re going down or not.

That’s it, have a great Sunday, back at it tomorrow. Won’t be long and we’ll be halfway through the year. God Bless.

Reflecting on the past few months, I noticed how we’ve made changes to our decision-making process. The short story is we’re now making quick, almost instant decisions. Sometimes when you do this you get one or two wrong but moving quickly and the progress that comes with it, outweighs any decision that doesn’t work. Plus, if it’s a bad decision, better to know right away, (the fail fast philosophy) and pivot to another direction that has a better chance of working out. I’m making decisions so quick, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea or change and can’t get back to sleep. At my age though, this is the way to go, ha.

Last night, the U.S. Men’s Soccer Team beat the heavily favored team from Paraguay! You got to love sports as anything can happen. Jagger went to the White Sox baseball game with a bunch of guys from work, fun. Ty’s working today and tomorrow and is almost out the door.

We paid our estimated taxes for Q2 yesterday. There goes $30,000 we get nothing in return for. It’s nice outside and a little cooler this morning. It’s dry everywhere but our yard looks good, especially in the back. We’re only watering twice a week due to the low snowpack and the high cost of water.

I’m trying to find a Chevy Suburban in diesel. They make them but are hard to find. The closest one I found was in California. Maybe one will pop up.

Not sure what we’ll do today after the gym. I should go wash Lori’s car. Up now is the gym, have a great Saturday and God Bless.

Seemed like a long week. I think it’s because we flew home from Chicago late Sunday night. We’re looking forward to the weekend. Ty works today and I think all weekend as he had Monday and Tuesday off.

Yesterday afternoon we ran up to Edwards as Zach at my go to tennis shoe store ordered up a pair of Asics for me. Lori ran into a couple stores and found two cute summer dresses for our trip on the 24th.

It’s still dry up here but the wind has gone way down. We should get some showers on Sunday. Looks hot in Denver next week.

Everyone is doing well which is good news. Jag did have a stomach ache yesterday after work as a bunch of them went out for apps and drinks. I have a little headache from working out.

Monday I’ll take my stiches out! I’ve healed up well. Lori’s cousin Brian and his son Tyler, are coming through on Monday on their way to South Dakota on a boys trip. Not sure if they’re here for lunch or dinner.

6:30 now and it’s trash and recycling day. Time to get moving. Have nice day! God Bless.

The last few days it’s been super windy. I think the worst is past us. I’m surprised there are not more fires with all the wind as it had to be 40 miles an hour plus. Throw in the 80 degree temps we’ve had and that a recipe for disaster.

We’re headed to the gym and Ty’s off to work. The cleaners come around noon today. I finally managed to get my $260k from the company that bought my old distributor in 9 States. They’re going to be much better but while the sale was going on, all payments were suspended. That was a big strain on my cash flow. I’ll spend it all today, probably in the span of 15 minutes, ha.

It took me until today to lose the 5 pounds I gained while in Chicago! It was good food though. Yesterday according to my smart watch, I had 11,000 steps. That’s a lot, unless you’re Ty, and then it’s pretty normal. We’ll see how today goes.

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

Wow, Ireland has had enough. Last night a refugee from Sudan who claimed asylum in 2023, attacked and stabbed a random man and then tried to saw off his head in the middle of the street in Belfast! If you know anyone who is Irish, this isn’t going to end well. Tonight, all across Britain, there will be mass protests as the people have had enough. The police blamed right wing factions and said it was nothing more than a simple knife attack. I’m not sure what a “simple knife” attack is. Anyone know? The same night four Afghans raped a 16 year old girl for hours as in their country, they can do this without consequences. What a World. Sooner or later, probably sooner, this shit is going to blow up. You can only push people, even law abiding good people, so far. By the way, same thing can and probably has happened here, but hasn’t been reported. Fucked up shit.

I was in Denver and back by 1:30. Ty climbed up to about 12,500 feet into the New York Range yesterday. He called his hike before the top as it was so windy, he almost couldn’t stand up straight. Once off the mountain, he went to the gym, then ran 2 miles in 15 minutes and then took Harley on a long walk. He’s a one man wrecking crew attacking any and all athletic endeavors that pops into his mind. He looks like a sculpted model these days. It’s still unbelievable the switch he’s made in a short four months. He abhors sugar and eats none. No cake, candy or anything sweet like that. He never had much of a sweet tooth. He’s like a decathlete and can do just about anything. You wouldn’t have believed how high up he was on the mountain when he face timed us. He was in a snow and ice field with rocky peaks surrounding him. I’m still amazed.

I picked up some new jeans yesterday and the girls at my western store, that I’ve know for 20 years, gave me a brand new pair of baby blue ostrich Tony Lama cowboy boots! I asked why and they said they were shipped to them by mistake and they were going to just put them out for sale but when I walked in, they said, these were made for Doug! How cool is that!

In California, they’re stealing the L.A. Mayor’s race from Spencer Pratt. The third place candidate magically got 24,000 out of 24,000 mail in ballots in one night, right. It’s mathematically impossible for any person to get 24,000 out of 24,000 votes in a single dump. Of course California is trying to block the Federal Government from auditing the votes, hmmm. There are videos all over social media showing Dems handing out cash and drugs to homeless people and drug addicts to sign ballots that are already filled out. How fucked up is that, and they’ll probably get away with it. Crazy shit.

Jag is over achieving at work but frustrated as he’s doing all the work. I told him, go in, ask for a meeting, and ask for a raise. I’m sure they’ll take care of him soon. Lori works today in Vail and is slammed. I can’t wait to take my stitches out as they stick through my shirt where the end of the stitch is tied off. Annoying.

Marty and Melanie are halfway to Montana. James is playing in Budapest I think tonight and Mark is in Glacier National Park in Montana with his daughter and her boyfriend. We’re off to Cabo two weeks from today and then I think going up to Idaho mid July. We might go to France at the end of July, we’ll see.

Cool this morning. There was a fire over by Basalt last night, but I don’t see any smoke this morning. Maybe they put it out. Been really windy. Time to go, sorry about all the profanity Annette! I know you’ve never heard those words! Have a great Wednesday and God Bless.

Getting back to normal. It takes a day or two after any trip to slide back into our normal routine. Great weather up here but hot. Nothing like Grand Junction or even the front range though. It was somewhere in the mid 80′ s here yesterday.

Lori went in to work around 11am after we went to the gym. Ty was off yesterday and is again today, as he works this weekend. I think Marty and Melanie are driving up to Montana today for a week or so. He’s moving forward with his builder on their little cottage. We’re still undecided on which area we like the best. Think we’re going up to Idaho mid July.

My stitches are healing up nicely. I stopped wearing bandages a few days ago. I can take my stitches out next Monday. 6:45am now and I’m running down to Denver this morning. I should be back around 1 or so. Have a great Tuesday and God Bless.

Hint! If you read the blog early yesterday, Lori added a bunch of pictures later in the day! Check them out!