Ok so about those Christmas trees. In Chicago my local supplier charged about $10 bucks a foot. Family owned business with a couple of the brothers always drunk and handing out shots of whiskey for the adults and candy for the kids while wielding the chainsaw and giving a fresh cut and lashing to the roof of the car without tieing to the car door jams. Trees are also displayed open and they bind them up for the ride home. Aspen --we went to Basalt Whole Foods--trees were very fresh, and cost was $50 for the big trees (5-8 feet). Trees were pre-bound and they couldn't open then because they had no way to rebind them, they had a wimpy little chain saw which didn't give a good fresh cut, they broke the top of the tree when mounting it on top of car, and they screwed up car doors by tieing tree to jams in car doors. No whiskey or candy either.
Your call on which is better.
We had a white Christmas which was lovely. More of the mountain is open for skiing which is great.
I recently received some correspondence from my new health care company which was addressed to myself, wife and son---wait what about daughter? So I called them, and after waiting on hold for 58 minutes discovered that yes she is covered too, and they are not sure why she wasn't included in cards that were sent etc. Can I have my hour back?
My check engine light went on in my German car. Nearest dealership is in Denver (140 miles away). They towed it there for free and fixed the problem which was under warranty for free as well in about an hour. Then they called me and asked about when I was going to come pick it up. Uhhhhh. Humm. Let me get back to you on that.
Lastly my son is off racing (sailing) in Miami this week. He is sailing in a new class of boat, and is undoubtedly the youngest kid in the class (average age is probably 17 and he is 13). His teammate also has never sailing in a race at this level (where the crew 'traps' and they also use a spinnaker). So our hope was that he not finish dead fccking last. I can't tell you how nice it is as a parent to have such low performance expectations. This race is just about experience and joy and who cares where he places. It feels great. Also so far avoiding the DFL overall finish.
If you want to see what some high end 420 racing looks like click on the link below ---you can see what trapping looks like and having 3 sails out on a 420 CM long boat.
420 sydney champs
and another
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Thursday, December 15, 2016
secret santa (breaking the rules)
Ah Christmas time---fun, joy, stress, fights. Yes it's the holidays. And now that my kids aren't going to a Jewish Day School Secret Santa has joined the mix. Great more crap to juggle. When I got the memo from the teacher last week I found my stress levels rising. Deliverables Wed, Thurs, and Friday. Fck. But then the first Christmas Miracle occurred and the first two deliverables were completed during school. Friday's deliverable was a small gift, with a price tag limit of $10.
My daughter had done a great job teasing out her recipient's preferences (CIA agent maybe?), and I was given a mission to buy a fox (stuffed) and some chocolate. Miracle number 2. I found a small stuffed fox for $8.99 at Carl's Pharmacy and bought a bag of Hersey kisses in x-mas colors for $1.99 which was pretty close to budget. Yea.
That was Monday. Monday night my dogs ate the bag of Hersey kisses. A 12 OZ bag (about 72 kisses). This raises numerous questions. Is chocolate fatal for dogs? (not mine). What happens to the foil? (good question so far no signs of it although I keep expecting a red, green a silver turd) Does it cause stomach distress --i.e. you can't expect me to pick that up with a bag can you? (no problems yet). And lastly if you buy a second bag of kisses have you broken the spending limit on secret Santa? (Good question).
So I bought a second bag, and put it on a very high counter. This morning I was greeted with a second empty bag (no signs of foil though) and a box that used to contain 12 candy canes. The dogs' mood was good even though their energy level seemed a bit high. Also the 1.5 year old seems to be getting thinner while my 4.5 year old looks to have put on 3-8 lbs. Which is kinda like humans, my kids can eat sweets all holiday long and come back thinner, I look at some pie and carbs and gain 10 lbs. Anyhow this sent me to Roxy's grocery which is the most over priced place on the planet. Suggest retail price of a 7 oz hershey bar is $1.99 at Roxy's its $3.99. While there I also noticed that the price of my favorite ice cream was 110% more than at City Market in Basalt. I am never ever going back there again.
Bottom line; I have almost doubled the secret santa budget. Did I violate the rules? And when will the foil make an appearance? Will my younger dog ever gain weight (she also ate 7 ornaments)? Will we have any ornaments left by the time Santa arrives? Will Santa get to eat any cookies or will the dogs demolish those too? Did I use up all my Christmas miracles? Does a Jew get Christmas miracles? And will we ever get any snow?
Next up ---x mas trees.
Friday, December 9, 2016
hockey --compare and contrast chicago vs aspen
Oh my the post you have all been waiting for. And it's early in the season for my daughter's team (squirt c) so this is very preliminary. Also my first thought was to be very PC and not offer any opinion and then I figured in this era of Trump Fuck that.
Starting with some of the least contentious differences and working my way towards more exciting stuff.
1. Neck guards---not required and not worn in CO except by my daughter. Required and worn by everyone from ADM on up in IL. The neck guard costs about $11. Attached is a vid of Zednik almost dying on the ice post getting his neck cut. Seriously I don't care if CO doesn't require it, why doesn't the team? If you are trying to get more kids to play hockey having someone die on the ice from a cut aorta seems a stupid risk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3znNVAMQzY
2. Uniforms. In Chicago almost every team has name on the back. My daughter has a closet full of jerseys with her name on the back however Wilmette took back her number 69 jerseys at the end of the season. In CO almost no one does and they keep cost down by not making you buy jerseys. Win CO, although making it a little hard for the new guy to figure out who is who. Now about those green gloves, helmets and shields-breezers. Are you kidding me, no names on jerseys but you want them to get green everything else. Stick with black. Try going into a hockey store and asking to see their assortment of 11in gloves in green or forest green helmets. And the breezers are a pain in the ass. Keep it simple give them socks and jerseys and forget the cute colors for the rest of the equipment. (and yea I know many of my chicago readers are dealing with red pants, gloves and helmet now--fun right?)
3. Since we are talking dress code ---out in CO there is some talk about dress with class, play with class so wear jackets and ties to games. In IL at the young levels I never saw this. In college my roommates had some trouble with dress with class thing too (and did you have to shave?)
4. Game travel. From the Sears wait no Willis tower in Chicago if you drive 40 miles you can probably find 40 different youth hockey programs---maybe even 70. From Aspen you can find 1 program. In an effort to get more bang for your driving buck you often play 2-3 games with teams over a weekend. It gives a whole new meaning to home home games and it can get uglier than a Blues-Blackhawks series in the early 90s when the hawks still played in a quality barn not the UC. Last weekend squirt B had 3 in Telluride and one of our kids got nailed for 2 10 min major and 3 minor penalties over the weekend. And another kid got an unsportsmanlike conduct called on him while he was on the bench (oh yea and his dad is the assistant coach). Remember that thing about dress with class play with class in the above point. Humm.
5. Now about those parents coaching. In Aspen it's standard protocol. In Chicago it's more rare. I am not brave enough to offer an opinion on this one in this venue, however feel free to do a google search on the subject and see what smarter folks than I think.
6. Season length and number of games. In Chicago the regular season kinda starts in the end of August and runs through March with a great 3 on 3 program in April and May. Out in Aspen there was a bit of conditioning in the end of September and teams were not determined until the start of November. My daughter played on a team in a tournament in October never having met the coach nor played with the kids till she walked on the ice for the first game. I love having a shorter season than what we had in Chicago. I hate the fact that my daughter hasn't yet played a league game and that they wind up playing games and paying for tournaments before they practice. Seems both like a waste money and a chance to get injured. Not sure where the happy medium is but don't think I have found it yet. Oh yea about 2-3x more games in IL than CO. And there are almost no girls teams in CO. That said Aspen really tries to get girls to play on girls teams which is silly because under U12 there are no girls teams to speak of.
7. Smack talk, trash talk and contact. Aspen and CO wins this one hands down. Congrats Aspen.
8. Power skate--once a week in Chicago---not really a part of Aspen. See above comment about contact, if you can't skate with em hit em.
9. Clock management. Running clock in CO in first two periods, stop clock in 3. In IL clock stops unless mercy rule invoke (mercy rule also in play in CO 3rd period). Also lots of music during clock stoppage in CO, not so much in IL.
10. Parents. Both areas have their fair share of nut jobs and sane folk. Really a draw but if forced to pick I would say that Chicago lends itself a bit more to nuttiness due to the many different teams and better quality of players (that is what happens in a big city with a big population and a NHL team that wins the cup every other year). That said Aspen has many parents who have a healthy view towards hockey (sadly not yours truly I fear) and some folks who are sure little Timmy is gonna be the next Connor McDavid. Don't worry--no Connor's in the current Aspen program. I suspect the really nutty sports parents are to be found in the ski program.
11. Fun on away tournaments--Willmett Notre Dame weekend still owns this with zero competition. Very educational---March 14 indeed. I mean Aspen and Saddle you guys aren't in the same league and maybe not even playing the same sport. It's kinda like Wilmett is playing hockey and the rest of ya are figure skating (maybe even ice dancing).
That's it for now.
Starting with some of the least contentious differences and working my way towards more exciting stuff.
1. Neck guards---not required and not worn in CO except by my daughter. Required and worn by everyone from ADM on up in IL. The neck guard costs about $11. Attached is a vid of Zednik almost dying on the ice post getting his neck cut. Seriously I don't care if CO doesn't require it, why doesn't the team? If you are trying to get more kids to play hockey having someone die on the ice from a cut aorta seems a stupid risk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3znNVAMQzY
2. Uniforms. In Chicago almost every team has name on the back. My daughter has a closet full of jerseys with her name on the back however Wilmette took back her number 69 jerseys at the end of the season. In CO almost no one does and they keep cost down by not making you buy jerseys. Win CO, although making it a little hard for the new guy to figure out who is who. Now about those green gloves, helmets and shields-breezers. Are you kidding me, no names on jerseys but you want them to get green everything else. Stick with black. Try going into a hockey store and asking to see their assortment of 11in gloves in green or forest green helmets. And the breezers are a pain in the ass. Keep it simple give them socks and jerseys and forget the cute colors for the rest of the equipment. (and yea I know many of my chicago readers are dealing with red pants, gloves and helmet now--fun right?)
3. Since we are talking dress code ---out in CO there is some talk about dress with class, play with class so wear jackets and ties to games. In IL at the young levels I never saw this. In college my roommates had some trouble with dress with class thing too (and did you have to shave?)
4. Game travel. From the Sears wait no Willis tower in Chicago if you drive 40 miles you can probably find 40 different youth hockey programs---maybe even 70. From Aspen you can find 1 program. In an effort to get more bang for your driving buck you often play 2-3 games with teams over a weekend. It gives a whole new meaning to home home games and it can get uglier than a Blues-Blackhawks series in the early 90s when the hawks still played in a quality barn not the UC. Last weekend squirt B had 3 in Telluride and one of our kids got nailed for 2 10 min major and 3 minor penalties over the weekend. And another kid got an unsportsmanlike conduct called on him while he was on the bench (oh yea and his dad is the assistant coach). Remember that thing about dress with class play with class in the above point. Humm.
5. Now about those parents coaching. In Aspen it's standard protocol. In Chicago it's more rare. I am not brave enough to offer an opinion on this one in this venue, however feel free to do a google search on the subject and see what smarter folks than I think.
6. Season length and number of games. In Chicago the regular season kinda starts in the end of August and runs through March with a great 3 on 3 program in April and May. Out in Aspen there was a bit of conditioning in the end of September and teams were not determined until the start of November. My daughter played on a team in a tournament in October never having met the coach nor played with the kids till she walked on the ice for the first game. I love having a shorter season than what we had in Chicago. I hate the fact that my daughter hasn't yet played a league game and that they wind up playing games and paying for tournaments before they practice. Seems both like a waste money and a chance to get injured. Not sure where the happy medium is but don't think I have found it yet. Oh yea about 2-3x more games in IL than CO. And there are almost no girls teams in CO. That said Aspen really tries to get girls to play on girls teams which is silly because under U12 there are no girls teams to speak of.
7. Smack talk, trash talk and contact. Aspen and CO wins this one hands down. Congrats Aspen.
8. Power skate--once a week in Chicago---not really a part of Aspen. See above comment about contact, if you can't skate with em hit em.
9. Clock management. Running clock in CO in first two periods, stop clock in 3. In IL clock stops unless mercy rule invoke (mercy rule also in play in CO 3rd period). Also lots of music during clock stoppage in CO, not so much in IL.
10. Parents. Both areas have their fair share of nut jobs and sane folk. Really a draw but if forced to pick I would say that Chicago lends itself a bit more to nuttiness due to the many different teams and better quality of players (that is what happens in a big city with a big population and a NHL team that wins the cup every other year). That said Aspen has many parents who have a healthy view towards hockey (sadly not yours truly I fear) and some folks who are sure little Timmy is gonna be the next Connor McDavid. Don't worry--no Connor's in the current Aspen program. I suspect the really nutty sports parents are to be found in the ski program.
11. Fun on away tournaments--Willmett Notre Dame weekend still owns this with zero competition. Very educational---March 14 indeed. I mean Aspen and Saddle you guys aren't in the same league and maybe not even playing the same sport. It's kinda like Wilmett is playing hockey and the rest of ya are figure skating (maybe even ice dancing).
That's it for now.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
8 in of POW and I am..............
in an insurance agent's office (again) trying to get health care. Actually I think I got it sorted, so starting Jan 1 I have a plan that costs 2.4k per month (without subsidy,) with a 5k individual 10k family deductible, for a very limited HMO network. And it only took 9 days and 27 hours to make this happen. Yea!
No not yea, but atleast I can cross that off my to do list.
Couple of quick observations post first real snowfall:
1. Aspen doesn't use salt. I guess they are worried about purity of the water table. In Chicago they throw salt at everything and if lake Michigan is a toxic dump so be it. My dogs paws are much happier and my wife is scared she is going to break her C5-7 neck fusion on the very icy, slippery roads.
2. Snow tires are a must. See above.
3. Saw a 6 point buck cross the road in front of me while driving home from dog groomers, thank God for snow tires.
4. Dog groomers in Chicago are about 40% less than Aspen. Chicago you win that one hands down.
And on a happy note my 10 year old daughter's note to Santa.
Dear Santa,
I have been pretty good, but not great this year. I am not going to lie.
I really want a hamster. I don't want a thing, I want an animal. I want to show my parent's how responsible I am. I will take really great care of it.
Love,
daughter of Aspen green acres
Should I set up a kickstarter campaign for a habitrail? How do you think the dogs will feel about a rodent in the house? I suspect they will find it a tastee treat.
No not yea, but atleast I can cross that off my to do list.
Couple of quick observations post first real snowfall:
1. Aspen doesn't use salt. I guess they are worried about purity of the water table. In Chicago they throw salt at everything and if lake Michigan is a toxic dump so be it. My dogs paws are much happier and my wife is scared she is going to break her C5-7 neck fusion on the very icy, slippery roads.
2. Snow tires are a must. See above.
3. Saw a 6 point buck cross the road in front of me while driving home from dog groomers, thank God for snow tires.
4. Dog groomers in Chicago are about 40% less than Aspen. Chicago you win that one hands down.
And on a happy note my 10 year old daughter's note to Santa.
Dear Santa,
I have been pretty good, but not great this year. I am not going to lie.
I really want a hamster. I don't want a thing, I want an animal. I want to show my parent's how responsible I am. I will take really great care of it.
Love,
daughter of Aspen green acres
Should I set up a kickstarter campaign for a habitrail? How do you think the dogs will feel about a rodent in the house? I suspect they will find it a tastee treat.
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
Health care update
OMG .......OMG....OMG (and we have a winner from Chicago--robert DeNiro ) way to go Nils
So first a bit about me....I am a smart savvy guy. I graduated at the top of my class from a pretty good college, am Phi Beta Kappa, have run a hedge fund, created the industry standard for hedge funds to protect their margin deposits, and been CFO of a business.
I can't manage to buy health care in Colorado. I have now spent time 8 different days totaling over 25 hours with insurance agents, and various parts of the state of colorado government and am nowhere.
The current bit of Dante's hell that I am in is twofold.
1. I was put into Medicaid because I didn't declare enough income.
2. I changed my income to too much so I can't buy through the exchange which means if my income is below 97k I can't get a 17k subsidy. And I am working with an insurance agent who totally screwed this up too.
3. Also my application seems to be held up in a twilight zone between the exchange and the medicaid people so I can't do anything anyhow, and the current best suggestion is to send in a paper application--and I have only 8 business days to get this done. holy fuck.
So first a bit about me....I am a smart savvy guy. I graduated at the top of my class from a pretty good college, am Phi Beta Kappa, have run a hedge fund, created the industry standard for hedge funds to protect their margin deposits, and been CFO of a business.
I can't manage to buy health care in Colorado. I have now spent time 8 different days totaling over 25 hours with insurance agents, and various parts of the state of colorado government and am nowhere.
The current bit of Dante's hell that I am in is twofold.
1. I was put into Medicaid because I didn't declare enough income.
2. I changed my income to too much so I can't buy through the exchange which means if my income is below 97k I can't get a 17k subsidy. And I am working with an insurance agent who totally screwed this up too.
3. Also my application seems to be held up in a twilight zone between the exchange and the medicaid people so I can't do anything anyhow, and the current best suggestion is to send in a paper application--and I have only 8 business days to get this done. holy fuck.
Monday, December 5, 2016
quick hits
complement of the day from daughter--dad your not too fat--of course that follows Saturday's comment of dad you don't ski very good (is that a reverse shit sandwich)?
accomplishment of the day--I managed to convince the local medicaid office that my family doesn't qualify for medicaid. Yea. Now I can maybe buy insurance like everyone else--well maybe. The separate agency that I would buy insurance through hasn't gotten to appropriate case info in the government accepted way from the other government office and the clock is ticking.....It feels a bit like a scene in Brazil when Henry Tuttle shows up to fix the heating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dht_3NziwSw
Bonus points if you know who played Tutttle.
accomplishment of the day--I managed to convince the local medicaid office that my family doesn't qualify for medicaid. Yea. Now I can maybe buy insurance like everyone else--well maybe. The separate agency that I would buy insurance through hasn't gotten to appropriate case info in the government accepted way from the other government office and the clock is ticking.....It feels a bit like a scene in Brazil when Henry Tuttle shows up to fix the heating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dht_3NziwSw
Bonus points if you know who played Tutttle.
Sunday, December 4, 2016
skiing saturday
good news--the new boots are much better. I kept them on the whole day.
I walk into my house Friday and discover that my daughter has two girl friends over and my son has one (well a friend who is a girl but not the other type of girl friend, or so he insists while they hang out in his room with the door closed). However, this post is not about what does or does not go on behind my son's door. Nope. This is about local kids and skiing.
So none of these born in Aspen kids have ski equipment yet for the season. The 12 year old used to be ski on the team but quit because she got bored of just doing the race course day after day week after week. She says it chased the fun out of skiing. One of the younger girls spent the night. I thought I would take her skiing the next day on my daughters back up equipment but she isn't allowed to ski Aspen mountain because it's too steep. OMG really. And the third girl wasn't allowed to watch Mean Girls cause it's inappropriate.
If Mean Girls is inappropriate for a 5th grader in this day and age what do you do-say about Donald Trump?
A local who hasn't skied Aspen mountain. WTF. This takes overprotective to a whole new level. Love the kid, but pretty sure my daughter (why don't you tuck from Gents ridge to the base?) won't be skiing with her any time soon.
And back to skiing on Saturday. More of Aspen mountain is open (enough to make it fun). We banged some small bumps. Skied some trees. Skied a couple of blacks with very thin cover (time for some petex). And ordered two $5 hot chocolates for the kids who saw many of their middle school friends at the sun deck. Who were skiing aspen, without their parents. So not every kid has helicopters for parents just the ones at my house Friday night. I also saw the ski team crushing some blue runs with only one ski on. Yikes.
I walk into my house Friday and discover that my daughter has two girl friends over and my son has one (well a friend who is a girl but not the other type of girl friend, or so he insists while they hang out in his room with the door closed). However, this post is not about what does or does not go on behind my son's door. Nope. This is about local kids and skiing.
So none of these born in Aspen kids have ski equipment yet for the season. The 12 year old used to be ski on the team but quit because she got bored of just doing the race course day after day week after week. She says it chased the fun out of skiing. One of the younger girls spent the night. I thought I would take her skiing the next day on my daughters back up equipment but she isn't allowed to ski Aspen mountain because it's too steep. OMG really. And the third girl wasn't allowed to watch Mean Girls cause it's inappropriate.
If Mean Girls is inappropriate for a 5th grader in this day and age what do you do-say about Donald Trump?
A local who hasn't skied Aspen mountain. WTF. This takes overprotective to a whole new level. Love the kid, but pretty sure my daughter (why don't you tuck from Gents ridge to the base?) won't be skiing with her any time soon.
And back to skiing on Saturday. More of Aspen mountain is open (enough to make it fun). We banged some small bumps. Skied some trees. Skied a couple of blacks with very thin cover (time for some petex). And ordered two $5 hot chocolates for the kids who saw many of their middle school friends at the sun deck. Who were skiing aspen, without their parents. So not every kid has helicopters for parents just the ones at my house Friday night. I also saw the ski team crushing some blue runs with only one ski on. Yikes.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
went skiing today
I bought some new boots pre season at surefoot. Custom footbeds and liners etc. At the time they felt fair at best, today on the hill they felt like crap. So bad I almost cried, but grown men don't cry right? And I am not sure that would have lessened the pain anyway.
Best exchange:
Dan--man these boots hurt.
Surefoot tech---where?
Dan--hard to know. My feet are so numb and tingling I really can't pinpoint any spot.
Good news is Surefoot promises that they will get you in some boots that won't hurt. Between the 2 days there pre season and today I have logged over 5 hours at Surefoot. Below note the picture of me on the bus back to Snowmass.
So the great news is a good bit of Aspen mountain is open. I got to ski some steeper stuff today with some POW on it. The ok news is I still have my old boots which feel ok (although the plate is worn so thin the lock with the binding is super sketchy. And they don't make that plate anymore--I've tried to buy it but the dang boots are from the Olin Mark IV days. The bad news is I will be logging more time at Surefoot trying to find a boot that doesn't make my feet go numb.
Other good news, walking home in the snow barefoot made my feet feel better (yes walking on rock salt, grit, and snow was a huge improvement over the boots $%##%!! Surefoot).
Best exchange:
Dan--man these boots hurt.
Surefoot tech---where?
Dan--hard to know. My feet are so numb and tingling I really can't pinpoint any spot.
Good news is Surefoot promises that they will get you in some boots that won't hurt. Between the 2 days there pre season and today I have logged over 5 hours at Surefoot. Below note the picture of me on the bus back to Snowmass.
So the great news is a good bit of Aspen mountain is open. I got to ski some steeper stuff today with some POW on it. The ok news is I still have my old boots which feel ok (although the plate is worn so thin the lock with the binding is super sketchy. And they don't make that plate anymore--I've tried to buy it but the dang boots are from the Olin Mark IV days. The bad news is I will be logging more time at Surefoot trying to find a boot that doesn't make my feet go numb.
Other good news, walking home in the snow barefoot made my feet feel better (yes walking on rock salt, grit, and snow was a huge improvement over the boots $%##%!! Surefoot).
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
a woman's prerogative
is to change their mind--and now she is thinking that yes indeed the weed (patch and ointment) may actually help with pain. Yea. Its gotta be better than oxy. But interestingly it's also more expensive. This was also true for Jarvis. Percocet for Jarvis ran $2 a day and doggie dope ran $15. It's almost the same ratio for oxy (with insurance) vs patches. Which kinda shows some interesting economics around the weed biz. The price of wholesale flower (the stuff Bob marley used to roll in those massive cigar sized joints) has gone from $2,000-3,000 a lb a couple of years ago to under $1,000. While wholesale flower prices are collapsing due to massive supply, money is being made refining the stuff for medical usage and for recreational vaping and smoking crystal (you need to bust out your crack pipe and butane lighter to smoke crystal for you kief).
The marijuana business is really fascinating. You could spend a whole semester in business school studying the externalities surrounding this business. Speaking of a government-business mashup that is failing let's take a quick peak at health care on the western slope of CO.
For individuals in the western slope region of CO there is only one option. That is a very expensive HMO. That is it. I have spent my entire life avoiding the HMO option and now I am looking at spending about 35k between premiums and deductible before Anthem spends a nickle for my families health expenses. And check this out---if my family's total income (W2 plus invest gains, plus dividends and other income) is less than $97,200 in 2017 my family can get subsidies of almost $20k per year. But if we make a cent over 97.2k we lose the 20k subsidy. And if we make less than $32k they will put us on Medicaid so the Federal government will pick up a chunk of the tab. Yikes, so my goal has to be to either make more than 125k or $97,199. And the nearest gyno that takes my plan is 37 miles away. Sign me up for socialized medicine--anyone who has to deal with an insurance company would probably agree that the for profit insurance really just means screwing the customer. And out here on the western slope of CO we have no options either in provider or plan so effectively I got the same coverage I would have via socialized medicine (one insurance provider and limited hospital and doctor options) at a much more expensive price.
The marijuana business is really fascinating. You could spend a whole semester in business school studying the externalities surrounding this business. Speaking of a government-business mashup that is failing let's take a quick peak at health care on the western slope of CO.
For individuals in the western slope region of CO there is only one option. That is a very expensive HMO. That is it. I have spent my entire life avoiding the HMO option and now I am looking at spending about 35k between premiums and deductible before Anthem spends a nickle for my families health expenses. And check this out---if my family's total income (W2 plus invest gains, plus dividends and other income) is less than $97,200 in 2017 my family can get subsidies of almost $20k per year. But if we make a cent over 97.2k we lose the 20k subsidy. And if we make less than $32k they will put us on Medicaid so the Federal government will pick up a chunk of the tab. Yikes, so my goal has to be to either make more than 125k or $97,199. And the nearest gyno that takes my plan is 37 miles away. Sign me up for socialized medicine--anyone who has to deal with an insurance company would probably agree that the for profit insurance really just means screwing the customer. And out here on the western slope of CO we have no options either in provider or plan so effectively I got the same coverage I would have via socialized medicine (one insurance provider and limited hospital and doctor options) at a much more expensive price.
Monday, November 28, 2016
went skiing with the kids
my son noted that it would take a lot to make mt chestnut (Galena IL) look impressive but Aspen-Snowmass managed that today with two bunny hill slopes open.
Looking on the bright side we got to figure out the buses a bit, but I really can't figure out the point of having the mountains open except to say they are open. And I can't believe the number of locals who put on their skis and boards just to say they skied. A number of them said they want to ski 100 days this year so I needed to get out. What? Why? I don't understand the desire to quantify everything and then compare (who are we kidding compete). I am not going to keep track of the number of days I ski, nor the number of vertical feet or speed or anything else. I just hope we get enough snow that I can find a blue run or two to ski with the kids (or even without).
Now about medical weed---we tried it (patches and ointment) and found no effect. Jarvis tried capsules and she also didn't seem to find any relief. I am sure it works for some (placebo maybe) but in my very small sample set it is not a miracle drug. And watch out if Jeff Sessions becomes the new AG he might just bring the Feds in to prosecute production and consumption "good people don't smoke marijuana". If I was a producer I would be up at night worrying.
Looking on the bright side we got to figure out the buses a bit, but I really can't figure out the point of having the mountains open except to say they are open. And I can't believe the number of locals who put on their skis and boards just to say they skied. A number of them said they want to ski 100 days this year so I needed to get out. What? Why? I don't understand the desire to quantify everything and then compare (who are we kidding compete). I am not going to keep track of the number of days I ski, nor the number of vertical feet or speed or anything else. I just hope we get enough snow that I can find a blue run or two to ski with the kids (or even without).
Now about medical weed---we tried it (patches and ointment) and found no effect. Jarvis tried capsules and she also didn't seem to find any relief. I am sure it works for some (placebo maybe) but in my very small sample set it is not a miracle drug. And watch out if Jeff Sessions becomes the new AG he might just bring the Feds in to prosecute production and consumption "good people don't smoke marijuana". If I was a producer I would be up at night worrying.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
weed soon I promise but first hills--its just a matter of perspective
I just got back from St. Louis where i celebrated both thanksgiving and my brothers big fat gay jewish brazilian midwestern thanksgiving weekend wedding. Thanksgiving in STL always involved various runs to deal with too much home cooking, and from a Chicago runner's perspective St. Louis seemed hilly. No longer. The gift of running up Sinclair road is St. Louis now seems flat as a pancake and Chicago is all downhill.
It's also snowing out here (finally). It should snow off and on for the next 3 days so hopefully more runs will open up. The kids and I plan on punching our season pas a bit later today on the 2 runs that are open. The joy of a season pass is you don't feel crazy about either getting in your turns or rushing to the hill. In the meantime my kids and two dogs are making a mess of the snow in the yard, and I got the hot tub cranked up for latter.
It's also snowing out here (finally). It should snow off and on for the next 3 days so hopefully more runs will open up. The kids and I plan on punching our season pas a bit later today on the 2 runs that are open. The joy of a season pass is you don't feel crazy about either getting in your turns or rushing to the hill. In the meantime my kids and two dogs are making a mess of the snow in the yard, and I got the hot tub cranked up for latter.
Sunday, November 20, 2016
traffic
In an effort to take it down a notch how about a traffic blog.
Folks in Aspen complain about traffic--I was in Chicago 2 weeks ago and it was a lovely reminder of what traffic really looks like. The wife was having neck surgery and I was at Northwestern hospital a lot. Each time I left it took me 15-20 minutes to go the first 500 yards. Yup, you read that right. I could have crawled drunk along the ground 3x faster than I was driving. They actually had to have an attendant at the parking garage exit deal with people whose paid parking tickets had timed out while trying to get out of the garage. Now that is traffic. And then driving around lincoln park continues to be like playing Frogger on Acid and speed. Pedestrians, cars, buses, trucks and those dam bicyclists (oh yea and skateboards, hoverboards and boost it boards) all trying to get ahead. Scary crazy shit.
However, it's light out, the distances you are trying to cover are not that far and in general no one is going that fast.
In Aspen it's dark, and people go fast to cover the distances they tend to be driving (long) and often are drunk (or at least legally over the limit). Humm that does make things a bit more interesting. And this past weekend I was staying in Avon for a hockey tournament that had me driving to Vail and Eagle. Between Avon, Vail and Eagle I must have driven through 9 traffic circles on each route for a grand total of 35-40 circles. I am not sure what these planners were thinking of, but for people new to the area (like just about everyone there on vacation which is just about everyone) traffic circles are challenging to say the least and not just for the driver. I found my google maps app blown away in Avon in a couple of the circles. Good fun.
And then there was some local road rage. I was stuck directly behind a guy driving down owl creek road at 25 MPH (5-15 miles an hour under the speed limit). For you Chicago based readers that is kinda like driving on Lake Shore Drive at 35 miles an hour. At 9 AM. There were bikes going downhill faster than us. At the merge with 82 I passed him (bad me for passing during a turn but seriously I was going to miss yoga, and I can't have that). At this point he sped way up, got right on my ass, pulled out his cell phone and took a video of my car while flipping me off (basically no hands on the steering wheel). He then got into the breakdown lane as we approached the traffic circle, swerved towards my car and then passed a bunch of cars illegally. Hum his Aspen high seemes to have worn off.
Next up weed---wife is gonna try some medical for pain management. And Jarvis was consuming some as well the day before the end.
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Jarvis R.I.P.
No words I can write can do her justice. I know it's not PC to say, but of all our goldens she was the best. She gave love in boundless amounts only requiring your presence and the occasional bit of food left on the counter or dropped on the floor. She would take me for walks when I wanted to yell at my wife or kids, introduced me to other people whose lives I shared for 14 years at OZ park. She showed me that you can eat a whole Duraflame log, or a package of raw lamb (bones included), and not even get sick However, put her in a car and she would puke all over the place. She showed me that some days a 5 mile run, and a 20 min swim in lake michigan wasn't enough and that she really needed some time to play with other dogs in the park. Also border collies weren't the only dogs who could rock the agility course. She showed the policemen that having dogs off lead was often useful if they rousted the homeless people in the park. And she showed me that you can do pranayama breathing all night long if you just work at it.
Best of all she defined man's best friend everyday. I will miss you and your beautiful constantly shedding fur a ton.
And if you really want to get the tears flowing--my son who has a bit of musical talent was playing music for Jarvis as she passed away--the last song was Just Breath (Jarvis was a huge fingerpicking fan)
And it's snowing
Monday, November 14, 2016
snow report
nothing to report. nada zip zero. too warm to even make snow.
We got 6 inches 6 weeks ago and over 9500 feet there is some dust but there is no snow.
Some pros and cons:
Last sunday night my boiler tried out for a role in a Steven King book (it was a noisy, loud, smoky and smelly death). We do not have a replacement working yet, so nights in the high 20s have been good for us, but mean no snowmaking. I'm gonna call this a win for my family.
Wife was told post surgery on C5-7 (for the second time) no skiing this year. So if there ain't no snow I get less complaining from the Boss because she isn't missing anything. I would rate this a push.
My daughter is playing a hockey tourney in Vail this weekend and I am dragging my son along kicking and screaming. Vail is supposed to open this Friday in which case he could ski for a day or two while the daughter is playing puck. That would be great, but also more expensive cause lift tickets are crazy and parking cost goes up when they open the hill. I would say overall having Vail open with snow would be a pro, but I fear one run of slush (its supposed to rain Thursday and Friday).
The locals say it's too soon to write off the season, and the hiking and biking has been lovely, but I am ready for some snow. Well almost ready, getting the snow tires on Thursday.
And look Ma no political comments.
We got 6 inches 6 weeks ago and over 9500 feet there is some dust but there is no snow.
Some pros and cons:
Last sunday night my boiler tried out for a role in a Steven King book (it was a noisy, loud, smoky and smelly death). We do not have a replacement working yet, so nights in the high 20s have been good for us, but mean no snowmaking. I'm gonna call this a win for my family.
Wife was told post surgery on C5-7 (for the second time) no skiing this year. So if there ain't no snow I get less complaining from the Boss because she isn't missing anything. I would rate this a push.
My daughter is playing a hockey tourney in Vail this weekend and I am dragging my son along kicking and screaming. Vail is supposed to open this Friday in which case he could ski for a day or two while the daughter is playing puck. That would be great, but also more expensive cause lift tickets are crazy and parking cost goes up when they open the hill. I would say overall having Vail open with snow would be a pro, but I fear one run of slush (its supposed to rain Thursday and Friday).
The locals say it's too soon to write off the season, and the hiking and biking has been lovely, but I am ready for some snow. Well almost ready, getting the snow tires on Thursday.
And look Ma no political comments.
Friday, November 11, 2016
i promised myself I wasn't going to blog re election BUT
i've been getting some comments demanding it so just this one post election snapshot and then I have so much good blogging to do re aspen vs big city but first:
For those of you who don't know my prior job was that of a macro trader and from an investor perspective my view is to sell everything. I kinda wondered what would end the huge asset inflation we had seen under Obama and I think we have our answer and that is Trump. While it is truly impossible to know what Trump policies will be, if as seem likely he pursues protectionism, isolationism, tax cuts and infrastructure spending while also bad mounting the Fed, talking down the value of the dollar, higher US rates, inflation, lower stock prices and higher asset volatility seem the likely outcome. This will take time to play out (so you have some time to start selling) but my advice is sell everything for a 20-30% pullback.
But now to my election commentary.
What America voted for on Tuesday:
1. In an effort to create more high paying jobs, America voted for protectionism--I hope there are a lot more high paying jobs because the cost of a hammer made in Allentown and not China (or for that matter your next iphone) is going to be 200-400% higher.
2. In an effort to get DC to work better and more build more comity between the parties, America voted for a guy who spews vitriol and insults.
3. In a country where the majority of voters prefer the right for women to have an abortion, America voted for a guy who wants to jail women for having an abortion and whose vice president signed a law requiring funeral's for aborted fetuses.
4. In a country that is increasingly socially liberal America voted to ensure a socially conservative supreme court for the next two decades.
5. In a country that feels the system isn't fair and rigged against the average guy American voted for a guy who has exploited every loophole possible over his entire life. A billionaire who pays no tax.
6. In a world where Americans feel less safe than ever, America voted for isolationism and know nothing foreign policy, and a bromance with Putin.
7. In a country where Americans feel more threatened by gun violence than ever, American voted for more guns.
8. In a world where 98% of scientists believe man made climate change is real America voted for a guy who thinks it's a hoax propagated by China.
9. In a world filled with complicated nuanced challenges that cries out for leadership Americans voted to exit its leadership role and pick a leader who can't manage to stay focused for more than 30 minutes (see debates 1,2 & 3).
10. 68% of Americans believe that Donald Trump does not have the temperament to be president and now he is president elect.
We are through the looking glass Alice and it's a strange strange world we are in.
And lastly I hope my fellow voters don't let the GOP play the victim card again--they own everything from the white house to the supreme court, US house and senate and the majority of governorships and state houses. The party who hates government now owns it all--so show us how it's done RIGHT.
For those of you who don't know my prior job was that of a macro trader and from an investor perspective my view is to sell everything. I kinda wondered what would end the huge asset inflation we had seen under Obama and I think we have our answer and that is Trump. While it is truly impossible to know what Trump policies will be, if as seem likely he pursues protectionism, isolationism, tax cuts and infrastructure spending while also bad mounting the Fed, talking down the value of the dollar, higher US rates, inflation, lower stock prices and higher asset volatility seem the likely outcome. This will take time to play out (so you have some time to start selling) but my advice is sell everything for a 20-30% pullback.
But now to my election commentary.
What America voted for on Tuesday:
1. In an effort to create more high paying jobs, America voted for protectionism--I hope there are a lot more high paying jobs because the cost of a hammer made in Allentown and not China (or for that matter your next iphone) is going to be 200-400% higher.
2. In an effort to get DC to work better and more build more comity between the parties, America voted for a guy who spews vitriol and insults.
3. In a country where the majority of voters prefer the right for women to have an abortion, America voted for a guy who wants to jail women for having an abortion and whose vice president signed a law requiring funeral's for aborted fetuses.
4. In a country that is increasingly socially liberal America voted to ensure a socially conservative supreme court for the next two decades.
5. In a country that feels the system isn't fair and rigged against the average guy American voted for a guy who has exploited every loophole possible over his entire life. A billionaire who pays no tax.
6. In a world where Americans feel less safe than ever, America voted for isolationism and know nothing foreign policy, and a bromance with Putin.
7. In a country where Americans feel more threatened by gun violence than ever, American voted for more guns.
8. In a world where 98% of scientists believe man made climate change is real America voted for a guy who thinks it's a hoax propagated by China.
9. In a world filled with complicated nuanced challenges that cries out for leadership Americans voted to exit its leadership role and pick a leader who can't manage to stay focused for more than 30 minutes (see debates 1,2 & 3).
10. 68% of Americans believe that Donald Trump does not have the temperament to be president and now he is president elect.
We are through the looking glass Alice and it's a strange strange world we are in.
And lastly I hope my fellow voters don't let the GOP play the victim card again--they own everything from the white house to the supreme court, US house and senate and the majority of governorships and state houses. The party who hates government now owns it all--so show us how it's done RIGHT.
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
and if you want to take a look at autumn in aspen
check out this friends vid--super cool
also if you go to super slow mo you will have a feel for my mountain biking and trail running
enjoy
http://unofficialnetworks.com/2016/10/video-why-aspen-is-the-place-to-be-in-autumn
also if you go to super slow mo you will have a feel for my mountain biking and trail running
enjoy
http://unofficialnetworks.com/2016/10/video-why-aspen-is-the-place-to-be-in-autumn
post debate (sorry hockey swamped me)
Daughter played 4 games this weekend---lets hope it was a learning experience.......
now about that debate---ahhhhh forget that
But in other election news I got my ballot in the mail. Having spent 16 years in Chicago living in basically the same place yet seemingly going to a different polling station every year, the mail in ballot was a welcomed change. And it gave me a chance to research all those judges. There were also a gazillion propositions on the ballot---how great would it be if there was some independent analysis of those propositions. We have a big one in CO this year--prop 69 which would basically socialize medicine in the state which depending on which analysis you read would save everyone money and headache as every doctor becomes in network, or decimate CO as every doctor and business flees the state and death panels determine that all treatment is unnecessary as is all payment to doctors. Doing a really good in depth analysis is almost impossible for the average voter in the state so they rely on others who are anything but neutral.
Moving away from the propositions and back up to the top of the ticket--there are 22 different people on the ballot for president in CO including the usual suspects as well as the socialist party, nutrition party, american solidarity party, pacifist-nonviolent party, socialism and liberation party, kotilkoff for president party (my current favorite), the prohibition party (aren't they about 100 years behind the times) the veterans of america, independent american, American's(are those the USSR sleepers from FX), American Delta, and American solidarity along with a number of others. Wow. Imagine if they had all been invited to the debates.
It also feels a bit weird to be voting weeks before election day. What happens if I vote for Hillary only to discover next week that she is an android from Neptune bent on nuclear war? What if Trump release his tax returns and it shows all his money has been given to planned parenthood? I appreciate the ease of mail in voting, and I suspect it increases turnout which is good but it feels a bit like deciding the victor of the world series in the bottom of the 7th inning in the 7th game. Shouldn't we play it all the way out? And doesn't it kinda reinforce party line voting--asking you to cast your vote before the game is even played out?
now about that debate---ahhhhh forget that
But in other election news I got my ballot in the mail. Having spent 16 years in Chicago living in basically the same place yet seemingly going to a different polling station every year, the mail in ballot was a welcomed change. And it gave me a chance to research all those judges. There were also a gazillion propositions on the ballot---how great would it be if there was some independent analysis of those propositions. We have a big one in CO this year--prop 69 which would basically socialize medicine in the state which depending on which analysis you read would save everyone money and headache as every doctor becomes in network, or decimate CO as every doctor and business flees the state and death panels determine that all treatment is unnecessary as is all payment to doctors. Doing a really good in depth analysis is almost impossible for the average voter in the state so they rely on others who are anything but neutral.
Moving away from the propositions and back up to the top of the ticket--there are 22 different people on the ballot for president in CO including the usual suspects as well as the socialist party, nutrition party, american solidarity party, pacifist-nonviolent party, socialism and liberation party, kotilkoff for president party (my current favorite), the prohibition party (aren't they about 100 years behind the times) the veterans of america, independent american, American's(are those the USSR sleepers from FX), American Delta, and American solidarity along with a number of others. Wow. Imagine if they had all been invited to the debates.
It also feels a bit weird to be voting weeks before election day. What happens if I vote for Hillary only to discover next week that she is an android from Neptune bent on nuclear war? What if Trump release his tax returns and it shows all his money has been given to planned parenthood? I appreciate the ease of mail in voting, and I suspect it increases turnout which is good but it feels a bit like deciding the victor of the world series in the bottom of the 7th inning in the 7th game. Shouldn't we play it all the way out? And doesn't it kinda reinforce party line voting--asking you to cast your vote before the game is even played out?
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
pre debate chatter---moths and helicopter parents
Today we signed up for parent teacher conferences the for the end of the first week of November. While conferences are available Wednesday afternoon, Thursday and Friday we are leaving town early Thursday morning for Chicago so the Mrs can have a repeat of her neck surgery. That gave us a very limited window of 2 hours or so for meeting with the teachers. And I am thinking every parent is going to jump on that Wednesday afternoon so they can have a long weekend. At 7:29 my wife and I are poised to hit the conference scheduler app as fast as we can to try to nail down, those Wednesday afternoon time slots. And then the wife goes and unplugs our router. Oh shit. She quickly plugs it back in but the boot up takes over 1 min. In Chicago trying to sign up for parent teacher conferences losing that minute would mean nothing available except 8am friday morning or maybe friday night. In Aspen we still got our pick of times Wednesday afternoon. Yea Aspen.
Some of you may know my primary job is hockey mom. The juxtaposition of not having parents jump all over the scheduler for parent teacher conferences is a very laid back attitude towards puck. This hockey mom is having trouble adjusting. To wit---team evaluations have been going on (and I think wrapping up but who can tell) and there is a tournament this weekend in Aspen that my daughter might be playing in. Or not. It depends which team she is on, and we don't know yet. And the kids have Thursday and Friday off of school so I either might get out of town with them (mountain biking in Moab sounds great except that I am scared of mountain biking) or she has 3-4 games starting on Friday. And if she is playing this weekend the team will have zero practices prior to tourney, likewise the girls team she is on has a tourney next weekend in Denver and they will maybe have one practice in total before that. To quote Seinfeld --Serenity NOW.
Now about those moths. Haven't seen one in weeks, which is due some serious poison sprayed in the house once a week. In an effort not to kill the dogs, I take them on a couple of hour walk. Today our walk in the woods yielded fresh tracks through the snow, some very slippery mud, a skeleton of a big animal (AKA doggy chew toy xmas) some barbed wire that the youngest pup got tangled up in (she is fine), and some fine views of snow covered everything with blue bird skies. Love it.
PS --Do dogs need tetanus shots?
Some of you may know my primary job is hockey mom. The juxtaposition of not having parents jump all over the scheduler for parent teacher conferences is a very laid back attitude towards puck. This hockey mom is having trouble adjusting. To wit---team evaluations have been going on (and I think wrapping up but who can tell) and there is a tournament this weekend in Aspen that my daughter might be playing in. Or not. It depends which team she is on, and we don't know yet. And the kids have Thursday and Friday off of school so I either might get out of town with them (mountain biking in Moab sounds great except that I am scared of mountain biking) or she has 3-4 games starting on Friday. And if she is playing this weekend the team will have zero practices prior to tourney, likewise the girls team she is on has a tourney next weekend in Denver and they will maybe have one practice in total before that. To quote Seinfeld --Serenity NOW.
Now about those moths. Haven't seen one in weeks, which is due some serious poison sprayed in the house once a week. In an effort not to kill the dogs, I take them on a couple of hour walk. Today our walk in the woods yielded fresh tracks through the snow, some very slippery mud, a skeleton of a big animal (AKA doggy chew toy xmas) some barbed wire that the youngest pup got tangled up in (she is fine), and some fine views of snow covered everything with blue bird skies. Love it.
PS --Do dogs need tetanus shots?
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
did I mention the moths (no politics today---well not much)
Shortly after we moved in it became clear that we had moths. I called the property manager and he told me to turn on a light and vacuum them up---or don't worry they would go away on their own. Neither strategy worked and now we are in the process of bombing the house. That requires getting the dogs out of the house for 2 hours---which is doggy hiking time. Yesterday I found some streams with ice up the sides which was cool and slippery. The dogs chased some deer (boring) elk (illegal) and a moose (very dangerous) but they didn't seem to care. Best of all they found a chew toy. 
look close, and yes you can see a deer leg. yummy and free---more good free stuff in Aspen.
I also got an email from the head of Aspen hockey last night making it clear that what constitutes locker room talk for the GOP nominee is grounds for permanent suspension from Aspen youth hockey. Painfully obvious but I guess in this crazy world it has to be clear--just cause the GOP nominee did it doesn't mean you can.
look close, and yes you can see a deer leg. yummy and free---more good free stuff in Aspen.
I also got an email from the head of Aspen hockey last night making it clear that what constitutes locker room talk for the GOP nominee is grounds for permanent suspension from Aspen youth hockey. Painfully obvious but I guess in this crazy world it has to be clear--just cause the GOP nominee did it doesn't mean you can.
Monday, October 10, 2016
more politics (plus a bit of religion) and coyotes
I made a mistake and watched the debate. Sadly instead of putting me to sleep it got me all fired up, so I found myself in bed at 11 pm thinking up all the zingers Clinton should have used to destroy Donald.
Finally I fell asleep but at 4:15 I was awoken by my dogs growling. Was it a break in?--should I grab my gun and stand my ground? Nope. It was coyotes on a very successful hunt. For the next hour the coyotes howled and my dogs growled. And I came up with more lovely talking points for Hillary.
But before politics let's talk religion. Yom Kippur starts Tuesday night and the easiest way to explain this holiday is it's about saying I am sorry. That is the grade school explanation. The high-school explanation is it's about apologizing for your misdeeds and sins, and God will forgive your sins against him but for sins against other people you must apologize to them directly. And here is the real kicker--while it is up to each individual as to whether or not to accept these apologies, the Jewish religion strongly encourages you to.......
Since all my readers are brilliant I am sure you can see how this segues into politics, but first.....
Maybe the Clinton campaign didn't want to go for the knock out last night because they think Donald will bleed out from self inflicted wounds and would prefer to face him than a zombie from the walking dead, I would be happy to aid the Clinton camp so long as they provide health care.
Some of my top talking points developed between coyote howls:
1. In response to Donald's silly attacks about Hillary not getting anything done while in office point out that being king of the Apprentice is not like being a senator, first lady or Secretary of State. Tweeting at 3 am that Kim Jong-un is fired it doesn't make it so, nor does it make the world any safer. When you are one of a hundred senators, in the minority party in both the chamber and the White House the odds of you creating new tax law is zero. Reality TV is not reality and being judge, jury and executioner on TV is poor preparation for the presidency. This is a point the Clinton campaign can't hammer home enough---Donald actually has no clue how government works and the Apprentice is the only job he has ever had where he wasn't working for himself.
2. In that vein did you just say that you would appoint a special prosecutor to send me to jail? Again that might work on TV or Russia but in the real world in the US it doesn't work that way. We don't jail our political opponents.
3. Donald I have trouble with your apology for your comments suggesting that because you are famous it's ok for you to sexually attack anyone. Dismissing it as locker room banter and then trying to switch the focus to ISIS is deplorable. The American public is capable of having a conversation about both treating women with respect and how to deal with ISIS, please don't use ISIS as distraction for your reprehensible behavior.
4. Speaking of ISIS, and the Taliban and Syria when I see the picture of Omran Daqneesh I don't see a terrorist, I see an opportunity. An opportunity to do the right thing. A chance to plant the seeds of freedom. Just like we won the cold war without firing a shot, instead relying on the power of liberty, democracy, and capitalism. We will win the war against terrorism with the exact same weapons. Just like winning the cold war took decades this American victory will play out over many administrations, it won't be resolved in a tweet or a single season of the Apprentice. You propose religious tests, torture, and threatening the use of nukes ---all ideas torn from ISIS's playbook, which directly undermine our most powerful strengths and threaten our victory.
5. Donald you speak like the apocalypse has arrived in America. You have used the word disaster more times than I can count in this debate. You indicate the economy is horrible, there is no work, our cities are rife with death and destruction, our health system has failed, our military routed, our society torn apart---it seems like you view life in the US as a scene from The Walking Dead. Donald that is not the world I see. I thank God everything day that I was born an American. I think it's the best country in the world by a long shot. However if you would like to leave you are more than welcome --that is your right as an American. If you want to move to China with their 7% GDP growth and winning trade deals by all means go---we sure won't miss your tax revenues.
6. PS Donald and GOP who is impeaching the IRS commissioner --if the Federal Government was half as corrupt as you think don't you think we would have seen all of the Donald's tax returns by now? And lastly, yes I voted for the Iraq war and in hindsight the war in Iraq was a mistake, but my first inclination in a time of war is always to support the president regardless of party and that is not a mistake.
Finally I fell asleep but at 4:15 I was awoken by my dogs growling. Was it a break in?--should I grab my gun and stand my ground? Nope. It was coyotes on a very successful hunt. For the next hour the coyotes howled and my dogs growled. And I came up with more lovely talking points for Hillary.
But before politics let's talk religion. Yom Kippur starts Tuesday night and the easiest way to explain this holiday is it's about saying I am sorry. That is the grade school explanation. The high-school explanation is it's about apologizing for your misdeeds and sins, and God will forgive your sins against him but for sins against other people you must apologize to them directly. And here is the real kicker--while it is up to each individual as to whether or not to accept these apologies, the Jewish religion strongly encourages you to.......
Since all my readers are brilliant I am sure you can see how this segues into politics, but first.....
Maybe the Clinton campaign didn't want to go for the knock out last night because they think Donald will bleed out from self inflicted wounds and would prefer to face him than a zombie from the walking dead, I would be happy to aid the Clinton camp so long as they provide health care.
Some of my top talking points developed between coyote howls:
1. In response to Donald's silly attacks about Hillary not getting anything done while in office point out that being king of the Apprentice is not like being a senator, first lady or Secretary of State. Tweeting at 3 am that Kim Jong-un is fired it doesn't make it so, nor does it make the world any safer. When you are one of a hundred senators, in the minority party in both the chamber and the White House the odds of you creating new tax law is zero. Reality TV is not reality and being judge, jury and executioner on TV is poor preparation for the presidency. This is a point the Clinton campaign can't hammer home enough---Donald actually has no clue how government works and the Apprentice is the only job he has ever had where he wasn't working for himself.
2. In that vein did you just say that you would appoint a special prosecutor to send me to jail? Again that might work on TV or Russia but in the real world in the US it doesn't work that way. We don't jail our political opponents.
3. Donald I have trouble with your apology for your comments suggesting that because you are famous it's ok for you to sexually attack anyone. Dismissing it as locker room banter and then trying to switch the focus to ISIS is deplorable. The American public is capable of having a conversation about both treating women with respect and how to deal with ISIS, please don't use ISIS as distraction for your reprehensible behavior.
4. Speaking of ISIS, and the Taliban and Syria when I see the picture of Omran Daqneesh I don't see a terrorist, I see an opportunity. An opportunity to do the right thing. A chance to plant the seeds of freedom. Just like we won the cold war without firing a shot, instead relying on the power of liberty, democracy, and capitalism. We will win the war against terrorism with the exact same weapons. Just like winning the cold war took decades this American victory will play out over many administrations, it won't be resolved in a tweet or a single season of the Apprentice. You propose religious tests, torture, and threatening the use of nukes ---all ideas torn from ISIS's playbook, which directly undermine our most powerful strengths and threaten our victory.
5. Donald you speak like the apocalypse has arrived in America. You have used the word disaster more times than I can count in this debate. You indicate the economy is horrible, there is no work, our cities are rife with death and destruction, our health system has failed, our military routed, our society torn apart---it seems like you view life in the US as a scene from The Walking Dead. Donald that is not the world I see. I thank God everything day that I was born an American. I think it's the best country in the world by a long shot. However if you would like to leave you are more than welcome --that is your right as an American. If you want to move to China with their 7% GDP growth and winning trade deals by all means go---we sure won't miss your tax revenues.
6. PS Donald and GOP who is impeaching the IRS commissioner --if the Federal Government was half as corrupt as you think don't you think we would have seen all of the Donald's tax returns by now? And lastly, yes I voted for the Iraq war and in hindsight the war in Iraq was a mistake, but my first inclination in a time of war is always to support the president regardless of party and that is not a mistake.
Saturday, October 8, 2016
ohh no politics----trump vs clinton and scooping the poop
I know I shouldn't weigh in on politics and goodness knows we have all had it up to here with the presidential race but sometimes even when you know you shouldn't you do but
First a quick football observation that I left off my last post. I went to Aspen homecoming last weekend, and well..... the last high school football game I went to was at my alma mater 5 years ago. In the bombers backfield was Ezekiel Elliott and let's just say the Skiers don't got a Zek on their team (nor for that matter from my team a rob hibbard kicking the ball which they really could use or either of the Keys boys or a Dubinsky on the line). Some parents seemed to think that D1 college offers might be on the line and I can tell you that is not the case. Sorry.
Hillary V Donald and dog poop.
Background: I own 3 dogs. Aspen is in shoulder season (meaning less services so dog owners true colors are more evident), resulting in some stinky crap on my shoes. That is called inspiration.
Observations: I have noticed 4 types of dog owners. Those who never pick up their dogs poop (it melts away right?) Those who only pick up their own dogs poop and never any other dogs poop. Those who pick up their own poop and sometimes pick up other dogs poo when it's convenient or necessary and who often have extra bags for a friend in need. Those who pick up their own dogs poop, pick up other dogs poop, and want to devise plans ensure all dog poo is picked up through both incentives and punishment.
Trump cleary is a never pick up the poo kinda guy. As a matter of fact I am sure that if I saw his dog leave a huge stinky shit on my front yard and called the Don on it he would say "isn't that the most beautiful crap you have ever seen, the size, the sent amazing, you are lucky I am not charging you for giving you free fertilizer." Don is the epitome of a self centered and selfish dog owner. Actually he is too selfish to own a dog--it would take away from the Don time. He just isn't capable of listening to a dogs needs and meeting them (which is a shame for him because he undoubtedly would be polling better if he walked a dog more and tweeted less).
I suspect that in her youth Hillary was a crusader for poop justice--the aforementioned type 4 dog owner. That position is now firmly held by Bernie Sanders. Hillary is now the type of owner who scoops her own dog's crap as well as going after the low hanging fruit left by others. If you look at Hillary's life it's been about public service. She has dedicated her life to trying to make the state (AK), country and world a better place. You may not like her ideas of what a better world looks like but the goals are almost always laudable. And in office she has moved from dreaming the impossible dream (a world free of un-scooped poop) to the possible ( take care of your own crap and help enable others to take care of theirs). And the Clinton's actually owned a dog--Buddy.
Overheard in the Clinton Whitehouse in 1997
Hillary "Bill WTF, Monica?!! seriously!!! are you kidding me ?!?!? come on, you promised after Jennifer you would ............... "
Bill "hey Hill, sorry I got to take Buddy for a walk. I promise we can finish this up when he is done"
I bet Buddy was one well walked dog. And they own a Buddy grand dog now. Oh yea and they are still together (they really took the part of the vows re for better and worse seriously).
So vote Hillary for a world with less (dog) shit in it.
First a quick football observation that I left off my last post. I went to Aspen homecoming last weekend, and well..... the last high school football game I went to was at my alma mater 5 years ago. In the bombers backfield was Ezekiel Elliott and let's just say the Skiers don't got a Zek on their team (nor for that matter from my team a rob hibbard kicking the ball which they really could use or either of the Keys boys or a Dubinsky on the line). Some parents seemed to think that D1 college offers might be on the line and I can tell you that is not the case. Sorry.
Hillary V Donald and dog poop.
Background: I own 3 dogs. Aspen is in shoulder season (meaning less services so dog owners true colors are more evident), resulting in some stinky crap on my shoes. That is called inspiration.
Observations: I have noticed 4 types of dog owners. Those who never pick up their dogs poop (it melts away right?) Those who only pick up their own dogs poop and never any other dogs poop. Those who pick up their own poop and sometimes pick up other dogs poo when it's convenient or necessary and who often have extra bags for a friend in need. Those who pick up their own dogs poop, pick up other dogs poop, and want to devise plans ensure all dog poo is picked up through both incentives and punishment.
Trump cleary is a never pick up the poo kinda guy. As a matter of fact I am sure that if I saw his dog leave a huge stinky shit on my front yard and called the Don on it he would say "isn't that the most beautiful crap you have ever seen, the size, the sent amazing, you are lucky I am not charging you for giving you free fertilizer." Don is the epitome of a self centered and selfish dog owner. Actually he is too selfish to own a dog--it would take away from the Don time. He just isn't capable of listening to a dogs needs and meeting them (which is a shame for him because he undoubtedly would be polling better if he walked a dog more and tweeted less).
I suspect that in her youth Hillary was a crusader for poop justice--the aforementioned type 4 dog owner. That position is now firmly held by Bernie Sanders. Hillary is now the type of owner who scoops her own dog's crap as well as going after the low hanging fruit left by others. If you look at Hillary's life it's been about public service. She has dedicated her life to trying to make the state (AK), country and world a better place. You may not like her ideas of what a better world looks like but the goals are almost always laudable. And in office she has moved from dreaming the impossible dream (a world free of un-scooped poop) to the possible ( take care of your own crap and help enable others to take care of theirs). And the Clinton's actually owned a dog--Buddy.
Overheard in the Clinton Whitehouse in 1997
Hillary "Bill WTF, Monica?!! seriously!!! are you kidding me ?!?!? come on, you promised after Jennifer you would ............... "
Bill "hey Hill, sorry I got to take Buddy for a walk. I promise we can finish this up when he is done"
I bet Buddy was one well walked dog. And they own a Buddy grand dog now. Oh yea and they are still together (they really took the part of the vows re for better and worse seriously).
So vote Hillary for a world with less (dog) shit in it.
Thursday, October 6, 2016
some observations (and yea I had a blog blow out so this covers a lot)
1. Winter is here. see below
2. If Jenna Bush offers to come teach an outdoor education class have her come because the TV production biz she is reporting for will give you a check for 12k but don't expect the students to learn anything besides the TV biz stinks.
3. It's bloody dark out when you take the dogs out at night and when you take them out in the morning. Scooping the poop is impossible without a headlamp.
4. The elk are migrating and I see them every day. Where are they coming from and where are they going to?
5. I had bear poop in my driveway. Big bear scat. Time to lock the doors as the berries get harder to find. When do they go to bed for the season?
6. Utah--my wife and son went to UT to race this past weekend. Boy won overall--here he is driving the big red 3 boat---
Some important things to know about UT if you drive CO plates----UT cops will pull you over and say you were driving poorly, demand a field sobriety test, say you failed and then take you in for a blood test looking for pot. If you have consumed pot in the past 30 days you will come up positive, and next thing you know DWI. The problem is the test will show both THC levels (are you stoned, which last for hours) and the chemical that metabolizes THC (flushes it out) which lasts for 30 days. So even if no THC is found, if the metabolite is found bamb -DWI. If you do a search for this you will find that it's happening all over the place. Nothing like getting busted for being inebriated when you are not inebriated and the test even shows that.
7. Mean kids exist even in Aspen. Of course middle school is probably the worst, and transferring to a school is like putting a big bullseye on your back but it happens even here in paradise. That is not what sucks though; its the signs all over the school exhorting integrity and respect and a bunch of other PC crap while kids are getting their pants pulled down in the hallway (not my kid)or being told the holocaust is a joke. That gets my Jewish irish up.
8. High class problems. Front page article on the local paper about a donor wall for Aspen schools. http://www.aspentimes.com/news/aspen-school-board-to-change-donor-recognition-policy/
Really I just moved here from Chicago and you want to talk about school funding issues take a peek at Chicago. Property taxes are 10x Aspen level, schools have double to triple the teacher student ratio, CPS goes on strike yearly, they have cut a ton of extracurricular programs (they got nothing like outdoor education like they have here in paradise), and there are parents who are angry about it being unfair that wealthy parents that want recognition for a large gift. Hell I bet Chicago would rename Chicago Public Schools Griffen Public Schools if Ken Griffen was willing to cough up $800 million to close the pension funding gap. And the students would be better off going for it.
2. If Jenna Bush offers to come teach an outdoor education class have her come because the TV production biz she is reporting for will give you a check for 12k but don't expect the students to learn anything besides the TV biz stinks.
3. It's bloody dark out when you take the dogs out at night and when you take them out in the morning. Scooping the poop is impossible without a headlamp.
4. The elk are migrating and I see them every day. Where are they coming from and where are they going to?
5. I had bear poop in my driveway. Big bear scat. Time to lock the doors as the berries get harder to find. When do they go to bed for the season?
6. Utah--my wife and son went to UT to race this past weekend. Boy won overall--here he is driving the big red 3 boat---
Some important things to know about UT if you drive CO plates----UT cops will pull you over and say you were driving poorly, demand a field sobriety test, say you failed and then take you in for a blood test looking for pot. If you have consumed pot in the past 30 days you will come up positive, and next thing you know DWI. The problem is the test will show both THC levels (are you stoned, which last for hours) and the chemical that metabolizes THC (flushes it out) which lasts for 30 days. So even if no THC is found, if the metabolite is found bamb -DWI. If you do a search for this you will find that it's happening all over the place. Nothing like getting busted for being inebriated when you are not inebriated and the test even shows that.
7. Mean kids exist even in Aspen. Of course middle school is probably the worst, and transferring to a school is like putting a big bullseye on your back but it happens even here in paradise. That is not what sucks though; its the signs all over the school exhorting integrity and respect and a bunch of other PC crap while kids are getting their pants pulled down in the hallway (not my kid)or being told the holocaust is a joke. That gets my Jewish irish up.
8. High class problems. Front page article on the local paper about a donor wall for Aspen schools. http://www.aspentimes.com/news/aspen-school-board-to-change-donor-recognition-policy/
Really I just moved here from Chicago and you want to talk about school funding issues take a peek at Chicago. Property taxes are 10x Aspen level, schools have double to triple the teacher student ratio, CPS goes on strike yearly, they have cut a ton of extracurricular programs (they got nothing like outdoor education like they have here in paradise), and there are parents who are angry about it being unfair that wealthy parents that want recognition for a large gift. Hell I bet Chicago would rename Chicago Public Schools Griffen Public Schools if Ken Griffen was willing to cough up $800 million to close the pension funding gap. And the students would be better off going for it.
Monday, September 19, 2016
why no blog?
Thursday --hike with mom around Aspen and have lunch and give her tour of school (while dropping off borax so my son can make slime--this is science class?).
Friday --hike up buttermilk with mom and daughter and 5th grade class--no kids complaining and got this view at the top.
click to enlarge.
Friday night birthday dinner (with birthday apple pie and cool trucker hat gift).
Saturday ---take daughter to skills practice with 12 NHL alumni. She bangs puck off Ed Belfour's shins, gets a lecture from Milan Hejduk about how to receive a pass (drop hand lower down stick), and as Pierre Turgeon watches her change out of her kit he chuckles and says 20 years in the NHL and daughters playing puck too and I've never seen anyone change like that before.
But wait there is more--Saturday afternoon we go to rubyfest. Wife, son and mom not so interested. Daughter very interested. post game she asks, why are they puking, any singing about the candy man but it sounds more like the S&M man? Humm hard questions and why I get paid the big bucks as a dad. Saturday night we are back to the rink to watch alumni game, watch daughter shoot between periods (horribly) and then take her to sleep over----wait no pick her up from sleepover at 10:45.
Sunday take mom to airport, take elijah to Ruedi reservoir for sailing (nothing but bullets in the last race of the season there), take daughter for a hike across the south rim (the leaves are turning--if you can hop a flight to Aspen immediately its max beatiful right now), pick son up from sailing and come home and fold laundry (just got a new washing machine after 2 weeks without. it was all hands on deck to fold).
Monday--change car insurance to CO from IL (almost twice as expensive) and run daughter up Sinclair road before family loses mind. Oh yea and blog.
Tomorrow off for another 5th grade field trip up maroon bells.
Friday --hike up buttermilk with mom and daughter and 5th grade class--no kids complaining and got this view at the top.
click to enlarge.Friday night birthday dinner (with birthday apple pie and cool trucker hat gift).
Saturday ---take daughter to skills practice with 12 NHL alumni. She bangs puck off Ed Belfour's shins, gets a lecture from Milan Hejduk about how to receive a pass (drop hand lower down stick), and as Pierre Turgeon watches her change out of her kit he chuckles and says 20 years in the NHL and daughters playing puck too and I've never seen anyone change like that before.
But wait there is more--Saturday afternoon we go to rubyfest. Wife, son and mom not so interested. Daughter very interested. post game she asks, why are they puking, any singing about the candy man but it sounds more like the S&M man? Humm hard questions and why I get paid the big bucks as a dad. Saturday night we are back to the rink to watch alumni game, watch daughter shoot between periods (horribly) and then take her to sleep over----wait no pick her up from sleepover at 10:45.
Sunday take mom to airport, take elijah to Ruedi reservoir for sailing (nothing but bullets in the last race of the season there), take daughter for a hike across the south rim (the leaves are turning--if you can hop a flight to Aspen immediately its max beatiful right now), pick son up from sailing and come home and fold laundry (just got a new washing machine after 2 weeks without. it was all hands on deck to fold).
Monday--change car insurance to CO from IL (almost twice as expensive) and run daughter up Sinclair road before family loses mind. Oh yea and blog.
Tomorrow off for another 5th grade field trip up maroon bells.
Monday, September 12, 2016
gone shopping...........
well if you know me you know I am not much of a shopper. Aside from some booze, outdoor equipment and ski coats I pretty much own the same crap I had in college. And to be honest I didn't want to go shopping, I had to take one of the cars in for service.....in glenwood springs which is a good 40 miles from my house.
While I am not much for shopping I am even less enthusiastic about paying aspen pricing for TP, light bulbs and other sundries so while down in glenwood I typically hit all the big box stores. This included a run through walmart, which might be my 3rd time in a Walmart ever. While trying to find something I asked for directions and was told keep walking till I saw the guns and then hang a right (always take a right at the guns in this country). Anyhow I walked down the aisle and found all the shotguns and rifles I might need for a small revolution.
Anyhow I am digressing from my digression---while walking back through the gun section on the way to check out one walmart associate was asking another about some kinda handgun called a siggle something or another. While I haven't fired a gun in years, I do read the occasional spy book and was able to suggest that what she might be interested in was a sig sauer. Her eyes brightened and said yea that is it. Next thing I know I am getting A LOT of attention from a women (girl) half my age with lots of ink as we discuss recoil (not much), stopping power (also not much) and places to conceal (she was mighty creative on that front).
Shopping in Chicago or NYC was never like this.
While I am not much for shopping I am even less enthusiastic about paying aspen pricing for TP, light bulbs and other sundries so while down in glenwood I typically hit all the big box stores. This included a run through walmart, which might be my 3rd time in a Walmart ever. While trying to find something I asked for directions and was told keep walking till I saw the guns and then hang a right (always take a right at the guns in this country). Anyhow I walked down the aisle and found all the shotguns and rifles I might need for a small revolution.
Anyhow I am digressing from my digression---while walking back through the gun section on the way to check out one walmart associate was asking another about some kinda handgun called a siggle something or another. While I haven't fired a gun in years, I do read the occasional spy book and was able to suggest that what she might be interested in was a sig sauer. Her eyes brightened and said yea that is it. Next thing I know I am getting A LOT of attention from a women (girl) half my age with lots of ink as we discuss recoil (not much), stopping power (also not much) and places to conceal (she was mighty creative on that front).
Shopping in Chicago or NYC was never like this.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
hiking
update
friday hike with daughter didn't happen due to bad weather
saturday hike with a couple of Chicago friends did happen and they were very strong. We hiked from snowmass to the aspen rec center along the government trail (with a spin up anaerobic
nightmare just to test them out). They did great. My dogs flushed a moose which was cool and probably illegal. We also got hailed on a couple of times and did not get hit by lightning although the wife called twice to confirm that I was not dead.
Wife "you dead yet"
moi " not yet"
Wife "hummmm ok"
rain cleared and we warmed up and enjoied the beginning of the leaves turning. Yikes that was fast. Then we took the dogs to the rec center for a swim. They got to go down the slides and swim in the lazy river. Very cool. Later that day we 'hiked' from out house .3 miles to the jazz aspen snowmass fest and listened to black pistol fire (very good), thievery corp (not my cup of tea but very loud) and the killers (excellent but really could have been listening to a record).
Solid Saturday right?
Sunday hike .3 miles to listen to stevie wonder. He was great.
friday hike with daughter didn't happen due to bad weather
saturday hike with a couple of Chicago friends did happen and they were very strong. We hiked from snowmass to the aspen rec center along the government trail (with a spin up anaerobic
nightmare just to test them out). They did great. My dogs flushed a moose which was cool and probably illegal. We also got hailed on a couple of times and did not get hit by lightning although the wife called twice to confirm that I was not dead.
Wife "you dead yet"
moi " not yet"
Wife "hummmm ok"
rain cleared and we warmed up and enjoied the beginning of the leaves turning. Yikes that was fast. Then we took the dogs to the rec center for a swim. They got to go down the slides and swim in the lazy river. Very cool. Later that day we 'hiked' from out house .3 miles to the jazz aspen snowmass fest and listened to black pistol fire (very good), thievery corp (not my cup of tea but very loud) and the killers (excellent but really could have been listening to a record).
Solid Saturday right?
Sunday hike .3 miles to listen to stevie wonder. He was great.
Monday the family plus 2 dogs hiked up to lake grizzly. wow what a stunning hike. "Only" 3.6 miles up and "just" 2000 feet. oh yea the starting elevation is 10.5. I know the locals probably think it's a piece of cake but I had a couple moments of heavy breathing. Lets see if I can figure out how to insert a picture (success see above).
Friday, September 2, 2016
false advertising
A home came up for sale by auction without reserve that had the right location. Much was wrong with the house but that can be changed with money; location is unmovable (ha). I am thinking heck without reserve maybe I get a chance to buy this home (originally listed for 7m) for like 2m. That would leave some money left over to totally gut the inside and maybe still leave beer money. Dreams run through mind of ridiculously low purchase price while I am jogging-slogging up Sinclair road. All is good.
I will give more details for the truly curious below, but bottom line is the auction was yesterday and the auction didn't happen. I guess without reserve doesn't mean the auction will happen regardless of interest. Only if there is high enough bids prior to the auction will the auction go live. Who thinks that is BS---or at least kinda misleading advertising for a property being marketed as a without reserve auction?
More details:
Concierge Auctions was running the auction. If I remember the bidding requirements right you had to post 250k to concierge prior to the auction (but that might have been 100k) for a bidder's paddle. Also the winning bid has to pay concierge 10% of the purchase price as a bidder's premium (this is not a sales commission and you could still be on the hook for sales commissions too). That premium is payable immediately and almost impossible to get back if something goes wrong. Now here is the kicker, the opening buyer's incentive. If you submit an opening bid prior to the deadline which is an hour or so before auction begins and it is the highest pre auction opening bid and you wind up being the highest bidder at the end of the auction you get a 10% discount on the price (basically covers the vig to concierge). Also Concierge may, in its discretion, accept opening, pre-auction bids after the deadline described above. Concierge may also, in its discretion, offer additional incentives to pre-auction bidders.
So the scam is (wait not scam that is not a nice word, the compelling marketing of the home is) to advertise the home as going to auction without reserve, and then if the pre auction opening bids are not high enough and numerous enough and they can't offer enough last minute select incentives or manage to increase the bids after the deadline to indicate that the auction will go pretty well they cancel the auction.
If you wonder where all the used car salesmen have gone it seems like they might be operating home auction sites like this. Dodgy? You make the call.
I am off to hike Buttermilk with my daughter's 5th grade class in the rain and cold. Look for a report tomorrow.
I will give more details for the truly curious below, but bottom line is the auction was yesterday and the auction didn't happen. I guess without reserve doesn't mean the auction will happen regardless of interest. Only if there is high enough bids prior to the auction will the auction go live. Who thinks that is BS---or at least kinda misleading advertising for a property being marketed as a without reserve auction?
More details:
Concierge Auctions was running the auction. If I remember the bidding requirements right you had to post 250k to concierge prior to the auction (but that might have been 100k) for a bidder's paddle. Also the winning bid has to pay concierge 10% of the purchase price as a bidder's premium (this is not a sales commission and you could still be on the hook for sales commissions too). That premium is payable immediately and almost impossible to get back if something goes wrong. Now here is the kicker, the opening buyer's incentive. If you submit an opening bid prior to the deadline which is an hour or so before auction begins and it is the highest pre auction opening bid and you wind up being the highest bidder at the end of the auction you get a 10% discount on the price (basically covers the vig to concierge). Also Concierge may, in its discretion, accept opening, pre-auction bids after the deadline described above. Concierge may also, in its discretion, offer additional incentives to pre-auction bidders.
So the scam is (wait not scam that is not a nice word, the compelling marketing of the home is) to advertise the home as going to auction without reserve, and then if the pre auction opening bids are not high enough and numerous enough and they can't offer enough last minute select incentives or manage to increase the bids after the deadline to indicate that the auction will go pretty well they cancel the auction.
If you wonder where all the used car salesmen have gone it seems like they might be operating home auction sites like this. Dodgy? You make the call.
I am off to hike Buttermilk with my daughter's 5th grade class in the rain and cold. Look for a report tomorrow.
side by side comparsion
My son played in the school jazz band in Chicago and he is now also playing in the 'jazz ' band here at Aspen Middle School. The commute side by side:
BZAEDS (chicago) AMS (Aspen)
Start time 7:00 AM 7:00AM
Equipment Guitar + amp Guitar
View bars, commercial, trucks unloading rocky mountains, deer, hot air balloons
Traffic medium --trucks double parked, aley blocked none
Distance 2 miles 9 miles
Time 12 min 14 min
Return I pick up (guitar, amp books etc) he takes school bus home (no amp)
Which would you vote for?
BZAEDS (chicago) AMS (Aspen)
Start time 7:00 AM 7:00AM
Equipment Guitar + amp Guitar
View bars, commercial, trucks unloading rocky mountains, deer, hot air balloons
Traffic medium --trucks double parked, aley blocked none
Distance 2 miles 9 miles
Time 12 min 14 min
Return I pick up (guitar, amp books etc) he takes school bus home (no amp)
Which would you vote for?
Sunday, August 28, 2016
sometimes I brag
I am sure many of my Chicago OZ-dog park friends got bored of my stories about how long I waited to turn on the AC (always tried to make it to July) and heat (never before November.) Our home in Chicago got a lot of sun so it tended to get quite warm during the days and the bricks did a good job of holding the heat. And it's always nice to sleep in a cool house so even if the house got down into the mid 50s at night that wasn't too bad under the down comforter (and 3 dogs panting to help warm the room). And of course I took a certain Prince of Tides-Great Santini pleasure in the family's complaints.
As it turns out the much higher average humidity levels in Chicago also helped to moderate the intensity with which you felt the changing temperatures. There is no humidity in Aspen. And I am wondering about turning on the heat. It's August and I am thinking about the heat. August is supposed to be 2 a day football practices with choking heat and dusty fields with dirt covering your face and making your eyes water during the afternoon practice.
Turning on the heat. What the hell?
Got my first networking hike tomorrow. Maybe being out of breath so I just listen will be my secret weapon.
As it turns out the much higher average humidity levels in Chicago also helped to moderate the intensity with which you felt the changing temperatures. There is no humidity in Aspen. And I am wondering about turning on the heat. It's August and I am thinking about the heat. August is supposed to be 2 a day football practices with choking heat and dusty fields with dirt covering your face and making your eyes water during the afternoon practice.
Turning on the heat. What the hell?
Got my first networking hike tomorrow. Maybe being out of breath so I just listen will be my secret weapon.
Friday, August 26, 2016
snow report
yup it snowed for my son's b-day. how many of you got snow in chi town or stl or nyc.....my bet is none of you but everywhere above 11k feet here is covered in snow. kinda nice to see the snow and also weird as my kids haven't even finished their first week of school and it's still august.
the trump was in town yesterday to raise some money from people who he won't listen to if he becomes president
and my oldest dog took a big bite out of my son's cake---she proclaimed it yummy
the trump was in town yesterday to raise some money from people who he won't listen to if he becomes president
and my oldest dog took a big bite out of my son's cake---she proclaimed it yummy
Thursday, August 25, 2016
quick observations
1. lots of deer ---holy smokes deer everywhere
2. additional cost I didn't factor in --buying snow tires (aprox 175 a tire x 8 yikes plus install)
3. speaking of which its my son's b - day and it's snowing on the top of the maroon bells --normally it's lobster on cape cod for his b-day
4. in chicago when people want to talk they meet for coffee (or drinks if you are lucky) in Aspen you go for a hike
5. In Chicago when you take the dogs for a nighttime constitutional you don't need to bring a head lamp or wear reflective gear--in aspen the headlamp is a must if you're gonna scoop the poop
2. additional cost I didn't factor in --buying snow tires (aprox 175 a tire x 8 yikes plus install)
3. speaking of which its my son's b - day and it's snowing on the top of the maroon bells --normally it's lobster on cape cod for his b-day
4. in chicago when people want to talk they meet for coffee (or drinks if you are lucky) in Aspen you go for a hike
5. In Chicago when you take the dogs for a nighttime constitutional you don't need to bring a head lamp or wear reflective gear--in aspen the headlamp is a must if you're gonna scoop the poop
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
some things change and some things don't
So I expected that most parents would turn their children lose with a pocket knife and a match and expect them to return home once a week or so (for a backup match). It seems that the specie helicopter parintus is alive and well in Aspen as well as Chicago. Bummer, but I guess this invasive species is everywhere. Needless to say school has started and all is well. My son has almost a whole bus to himself (that would be what happens when you cross too much money-resources with the aforementioned helicopter). And there is an aviation program he is hoping to participate in which might make learning some trig worth the effort.
Starting to look for work. This should be amusing.
Starting to look for work. This should be amusing.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
made it up sinclair rd no stops
but wow am I slow
took family up ute trail yesterday and got the 'free ride' down the gondola --but of course lighting kept us locked in sundeck for an hour where the family bought not free food
other fun things we have done ---kids physics bar b que, lecture on music and mind, aspen santa fe ballet (which was great) and registered kids for school ----looks like for a bit extra my son can learn to fly a plane which might make him focus a bit more in math class. yea
took family up ute trail yesterday and got the 'free ride' down the gondola --but of course lighting kept us locked in sundeck for an hour where the family bought not free food
other fun things we have done ---kids physics bar b que, lecture on music and mind, aspen santa fe ballet (which was great) and registered kids for school ----looks like for a bit extra my son can learn to fly a plane which might make him focus a bit more in math class. yea
Monday, August 15, 2016
why to take daughter on a hike
fun to hear her enjoy the beauty (the high alpine meadows up on Govt trail are pretty awe inspiring)
conversation can be even better---daughter says do you think there is a hell (non religious dad)--no. Do you? She says no--because I believe God believes in second chances.
Pretty cool.
PS only one stop to gag and cry today up Sinclair road----but I am not sure you can call my pace running or even jogging. Slogging might be more appropriate.
conversation can be even better---daughter says do you think there is a hell (non religious dad)--no. Do you? She says no--because I believe God believes in second chances.
Pretty cool.
PS only one stop to gag and cry today up Sinclair road----but I am not sure you can call my pace running or even jogging. Slogging might be more appropriate.
Thursday, August 11, 2016
aspen takes my breath away
I was wondering if I would stop being amazed by the views. After a month I can report that I am still gobsmacked by the beauty. Sometimes that comes from going to a new place or a new time (like last night I was on the top of Ajax for the sunset). Or watching a storm roll in--but the walk to get the papers just doesn't get old--it's really a beautiful place.
But what really takes my breath away is exercising up here. I figured after a month I would be mountain man tuff--maybe even able to run and jump like a 30 year old. So I set a goal for myself to run up sinclair road without stopping. It's not that long --maybe a mile, and not that steep--maybe 300-400 vert. Well I can report that after a month of trying I still can't do it. I have changed my goal from run to jog (or anything but walk). Will I ever be a mountain man?
But what really takes my breath away is exercising up here. I figured after a month I would be mountain man tuff--maybe even able to run and jump like a 30 year old. So I set a goal for myself to run up sinclair road without stopping. It's not that long --maybe a mile, and not that steep--maybe 300-400 vert. Well I can report that after a month of trying I still can't do it. I have changed my goal from run to jog (or anything but walk). Will I ever be a mountain man?
Thursday, August 4, 2016
aspen real estate --the pain the pain
So Aspen is different. My son has met at least 3 kids at camp whose families have their own jets. He saw one of them taking off today on the way to camp and he said thank goodness that kid was a @%$^^$XS.
Ok so I knew going into this that Aspen real estate was wicked expensive. But that is not what this post is about. And for all you real estate agents reading you may hate me for this but I got to be honest---there is some stinky shit going on here. Namely no one seems to be able to tell you anything about the properties in terms of what you can build, how big you can build and what the fees are to build there. Now I guess if you are so rich that you don't care about fees, and if you spend a lot of money only to find you can't build the home you want and then you have to sell well maybe losing 300k-800k doesn't affect you but that isn't my world.
I would expect the seller of a piece of land to be able to provide you something that would say how big a home you could build on that piece of land and all the details around that. But it seems in Aspen no one really knows what you can build till you go to the review board. Also jurisdiction seems all over the road (which impacts various additional costs like affording housing tax fee which is close to $50 a square foot--yea you read that right but for those of you not so good with math if you are building a 4k square foot house you are looking at $200k in affordable housing tax fee alone). Other permitting costs can run another $50 a square foot in the city so you are looking at $100 in fees per square foot. There are many places in this country you can build a house for less than $100 a square foot. Fck.
And no one is upfront about which property is located where.
So you see a property and think humm nice then you have to try to figure out where it's really located, guess what you can build on it and pray.
My old formula for building a home was
land+ (building cost x1.33% + 50% longer to deliver) + 3% of building costs as fees
my new formula is
land + (building which is 20% smaller than you thought you could build once you go through approval process) + ( building costs which are double the rest of the world x 1.33% + 50% longer to deliver) + 18% building costs as fees
BOTTOM LINE real estate is softening. There have been 14 homes sold in Aspen this year so far --off like 70% YTD from last year. Very little is moving and prices are dropping. Maybe it's time to bring some sanity to this process not just in terms of price but process as well. Clearing up this muddy picture would improve transaction rates which would be good for the local economy.
Ok so I knew going into this that Aspen real estate was wicked expensive. But that is not what this post is about. And for all you real estate agents reading you may hate me for this but I got to be honest---there is some stinky shit going on here. Namely no one seems to be able to tell you anything about the properties in terms of what you can build, how big you can build and what the fees are to build there. Now I guess if you are so rich that you don't care about fees, and if you spend a lot of money only to find you can't build the home you want and then you have to sell well maybe losing 300k-800k doesn't affect you but that isn't my world.
I would expect the seller of a piece of land to be able to provide you something that would say how big a home you could build on that piece of land and all the details around that. But it seems in Aspen no one really knows what you can build till you go to the review board. Also jurisdiction seems all over the road (which impacts various additional costs like affording housing tax fee which is close to $50 a square foot--yea you read that right but for those of you not so good with math if you are building a 4k square foot house you are looking at $200k in affordable housing tax fee alone). Other permitting costs can run another $50 a square foot in the city so you are looking at $100 in fees per square foot. There are many places in this country you can build a house for less than $100 a square foot. Fck.
And no one is upfront about which property is located where.
So you see a property and think humm nice then you have to try to figure out where it's really located, guess what you can build on it and pray.
My old formula for building a home was
land+ (building cost x1.33% + 50% longer to deliver) + 3% of building costs as fees
my new formula is
land + (building which is 20% smaller than you thought you could build once you go through approval process) + ( building costs which are double the rest of the world x 1.33% + 50% longer to deliver) + 18% building costs as fees
BOTTOM LINE real estate is softening. There have been 14 homes sold in Aspen this year so far --off like 70% YTD from last year. Very little is moving and prices are dropping. Maybe it's time to bring some sanity to this process not just in terms of price but process as well. Clearing up this muddy picture would improve transaction rates which would be good for the local economy.
Tuesday, August 2, 2016
So let's talk about pot
Let me begin the conversation by letting all ya all know that it seems my daughter has been watching reefer madness when I am not closely observing her screen time and has decided if I consume any THC I will turn into Charles Manson. So I got that going for me. Also when I decided to move out here getting involved in a growing business sounding great so I was thinking managing the Green Dragon sounded perfect. And they were looking to hire for that role. Well they hired someone. And the pot business isn't growing, it's grown. It's crazy how many pot shops there are. Downtown Aspen has I believe 7 at last count. That is 1 for every 1000 people and seeing as you got to be 21 it's more like 1 for every 700 people. So no waiting step right up and get stoned.
Another observation---kids these days smoke much smaller pipes. I've seen a lot of water pipes and no one is rocking the 3 foot graffix bong with the 6 shooter attachment out here. It's a lot of sub one foot stuff. What is up with that?--my guess is the increased potency from 25 years ago has something to do with it. And kids these days don't know how to go big.
And then there are these edible things. Wow it's not like we used to make with experimenting with brownies. These things are fully manufactured drugs. You will get stoned--maybe very stoned for a very long time. I've been told to experiment with small amounts cause its a ride you can't get off of. Kinda like Trump.....wait no politics.
Anyhow I am still thinking about a green job but not in the industry per se but instead servicing the industry. Anyone need a dope banker (and some health insurance along with that?)
Another observation---kids these days smoke much smaller pipes. I've seen a lot of water pipes and no one is rocking the 3 foot graffix bong with the 6 shooter attachment out here. It's a lot of sub one foot stuff. What is up with that?--my guess is the increased potency from 25 years ago has something to do with it. And kids these days don't know how to go big.
And then there are these edible things. Wow it's not like we used to make with experimenting with brownies. These things are fully manufactured drugs. You will get stoned--maybe very stoned for a very long time. I've been told to experiment with small amounts cause its a ride you can't get off of. Kinda like Trump.....wait no politics.
Anyhow I am still thinking about a green job but not in the industry per se but instead servicing the industry. Anyone need a dope banker (and some health insurance along with that?)
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
different part duex
I took the dogs to vet for their annual check up (they are fine although Clemens is pooping and puking all over the place--seems that if you eat a lot of snakes and tall grass bad things happen to a golden retriever stomach). Anyhow in Aspen the vets do not recommend flea and tick prevention (no fleas and no bad ticks in Aspen). No heartworm cause there is no heartworm. And half of the other required immunizations needed in Chicago are not needed here. And the vet was all about not giving my dogs lots of drugs which is the total opposite of Chicago. Nice.
So boy being taught independence at camp. Dogs being treated like dogs and not children by vet.
Lovely
But it ain't all great in Aspen --tickets for labor day fest in Aspen same price as lolla tickets (3 days vs 4 in Chi and lolla is all GA while there are much higher priced seats for Aspen but I am comparing GA to GA) and if you check the lineups well there is no comparison. I really like the killers, but not for 300 bucks. BTW who the heck has seats for a music fest--GA all the way since woodstock baby. Thought the old school folks here would know that for sure.
So boy being taught independence at camp. Dogs being treated like dogs and not children by vet.
Lovely
But it ain't all great in Aspen --tickets for labor day fest in Aspen same price as lolla tickets (3 days vs 4 in Chi and lolla is all GA while there are much higher priced seats for Aspen but I am comparing GA to GA) and if you check the lineups well there is no comparison. I really like the killers, but not for 300 bucks. BTW who the heck has seats for a music fest--GA all the way since woodstock baby. Thought the old school folks here would know that for sure.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
that was different
Son goes to camp. Son steps on wasp nest. Son gets stung a lot. Counselor asks if allergic. Nope. Son continues playing.
Pick son up from camp. How was day. Great and oh yea I got stung.
No panicky phone calls from camp. No conversations with counselors. No muss no fuss.
That is the way it should be. Sometimes you go into the great outdoors and it hurts but it ain't the end of the world. Aspen got that attitude right. Too much of this country has it wrong. Right way to raise kids.
Yea aspen. Yea son.
Pick son up from camp. How was day. Great and oh yea I got stung.
No panicky phone calls from camp. No conversations with counselors. No muss no fuss.
That is the way it should be. Sometimes you go into the great outdoors and it hurts but it ain't the end of the world. Aspen got that attitude right. Too much of this country has it wrong. Right way to raise kids.
Yea aspen. Yea son.
Monday, July 25, 2016
questions and answers
When I told friends and family I was leaving Chicago for Aspen they said "wow" and "really" and "what the hell will you do".
Folks in Aspen say "welcome" and "what took you so long?"
Aspen really is a weird place. Its small town USA with a bit of Davos and real housewives of houston mixed in.
Gotta run but I will say daughter is having fun playing puck at Lewis and son had a great day racing on Rudie. This weekend he will be racing in Dillion--time to see how good these mountain sailors really are.
Folks in Aspen say "welcome" and "what took you so long?"
Aspen really is a weird place. Its small town USA with a bit of Davos and real housewives of houston mixed in.
Gotta run but I will say daughter is having fun playing puck at Lewis and son had a great day racing on Rudie. This weekend he will be racing in Dillion--time to see how good these mountain sailors really are.
Friday, July 22, 2016
Feeling like a local
I got my CO plates yesterday and put them on the car today. very local. Cost $1,400 to register in CO. kinda loco. But the experience of the Pitkin county clerk was wonderful so that was worth something (but 1400 bucks hummmm). Jesse White can kiss my ass by by.
Went for a hike on the south rim trail (backwards up from my house up Sinclair rd and then finish at clark market to pick up mail). Very local. Went with son and two dogs and had a great time. Totally local. Passed some very old out of towners on the trail--feeling super local. And then ran into some 70+ year old trail running the start of the trail up to spire and back down--he hammer past us. Not so local.
Then I picked up the local paper and read about Aspen-Pitkin county working on how to alleviate traffic into and out of Aspen. Are you kidding me. Yes there is a ton of traffic --yesterday on way to free physics lecture at the Aspen science institute it took me 22 minutes not 18. Uhhh really you locals need to spend some time on the circle interchange in Chicago or the 405 in LA or the 101 in SF or LIE in NYC or shoot any road in NYC. Thank goodness I haven't gone totally native. I think the locals may have forgotten what the real world looks like. The traffic I can handle but I do miss having 5 good radio stations to listen to while sitting in 'traffic'. And don't worry I still won't listen to country music even if that is the only thing my radio picks up.
All is good although my younger two dogs may never go on a 'walk' with me again.
Went for a hike on the south rim trail (backwards up from my house up Sinclair rd and then finish at clark market to pick up mail). Very local. Went with son and two dogs and had a great time. Totally local. Passed some very old out of towners on the trail--feeling super local. And then ran into some 70+ year old trail running the start of the trail up to spire and back down--he hammer past us. Not so local.
Then I picked up the local paper and read about Aspen-Pitkin county working on how to alleviate traffic into and out of Aspen. Are you kidding me. Yes there is a ton of traffic --yesterday on way to free physics lecture at the Aspen science institute it took me 22 minutes not 18. Uhhh really you locals need to spend some time on the circle interchange in Chicago or the 405 in LA or the 101 in SF or LIE in NYC or shoot any road in NYC. Thank goodness I haven't gone totally native. I think the locals may have forgotten what the real world looks like. The traffic I can handle but I do miss having 5 good radio stations to listen to while sitting in 'traffic'. And don't worry I still won't listen to country music even if that is the only thing my radio picks up.
All is good although my younger two dogs may never go on a 'walk' with me again.
Thursday, July 21, 2016
DON'T MOVE
Sorry I meant to post this before moving but moving got in the way.
First off let me say I am a very deep thinking introspective guy who is in touch with his emotions. And I think wing beneath your wings is the best song ever written. humm maybe that isn't me. But this move forced me to think about stuff. Seems most days we go about our business without really noting the passage of time. In my case walk the dogs, yell at kids, work, yell at kids walk dogs go to bed. Repeat. Moving changed that. Not only did the leaving process slap me across the face and yank me out of the daily detritus of life, but it got me thinking about major milestones and the passage of time. Where I was when 9/11 happened. How long I have know some people. And honestly how old I have become. When I moved to Chicago I was 32, knew everything, and was unencumbered by cost centers 1 & 2 and 3 shedding pooping creatures. Leaving Chicago I am 48, realize how much I don't know, going gray, getting reading glasses and sounding more and more like my parents when I speak to my kids.
I kinda knew this was going on in the background but the process of leaving brought it front and center. Which I guess is when another one of those life cliches happen--midlife crisis. So I have decided to do something stupid like get a 27 year old girl friend. Or a Ferrieri or maybe both. Wait a minute. My midlife crisis is moving to Aspen. Well I guess I can check that off---time to go for a hike with family except it looks like prime thunderstorm weather outside. Well WTF you only live once right?
First off let me say I am a very deep thinking introspective guy who is in touch with his emotions. And I think wing beneath your wings is the best song ever written. humm maybe that isn't me. But this move forced me to think about stuff. Seems most days we go about our business without really noting the passage of time. In my case walk the dogs, yell at kids, work, yell at kids walk dogs go to bed. Repeat. Moving changed that. Not only did the leaving process slap me across the face and yank me out of the daily detritus of life, but it got me thinking about major milestones and the passage of time. Where I was when 9/11 happened. How long I have know some people. And honestly how old I have become. When I moved to Chicago I was 32, knew everything, and was unencumbered by cost centers 1 & 2 and 3 shedding pooping creatures. Leaving Chicago I am 48, realize how much I don't know, going gray, getting reading glasses and sounding more and more like my parents when I speak to my kids.
I kinda knew this was going on in the background but the process of leaving brought it front and center. Which I guess is when another one of those life cliches happen--midlife crisis. So I have decided to do something stupid like get a 27 year old girl friend. Or a Ferrieri or maybe both. Wait a minute. My midlife crisis is moving to Aspen. Well I guess I can check that off---time to go for a hike with family except it looks like prime thunderstorm weather outside. Well WTF you only live once right?
Monday, July 18, 2016
bikes
ok first things first--we arrived safe and sound in snowmass village according to plan. Wife, kids and dogs all made it and the adventure will provide subject matter for many future posts. But first bikes.
In my fantasy world we would arrive Friday afternoon and the kids would hop on their bikes while the wife unpacked and I drank beers. We arrived late and there was no biking or beer drinking. Saturday I walked from house up to Clarks market with dogs and thought that isn't a bad walk--maybe 1 mile. Sunday I told my kids to ride to Clarks to buy some stuff for lunch (and get them out of our hair). Son came back and said that was an epic fail. Daughter tossed helmet, bike, bag, sunglass on ground and screamed a lot. What happened? Snowmass village is hilly. Very hilly. My kids are used to hazards like 6 way intersections, getting doored, alleys, crazy car, bike, and pedestrian traffic. Snowmass has none of that but, well that mile up to clarks has got to be 800 vertical feet starting from 7500 feet. Needless to say the kids have got some work ahead of them but shoot there isn't even a bunny slope equivalent around here to warm up on.
Today I went for a ride. About 30 years ago I used to race, but really haven't done much riding since then. My bike is 15 years old and set up for easy road racing on flat conditions. Today I rode from snowmass village to Aspen and back. Didn't look bad in terms of distance and heck the longer I was out of the house the better. Leaving snowmass was easy (too easy) as I went downhill fast. I am not sure I have ever had to change my brake pads on a bike but now checking those suckers will be a pre bike ritual. So everything went fine except for some serious uphill where I cried a lot and was reduced to walking the bike some.
On the return above the airport I was on the bike trail because I figured I was too slow to be on the road when I saw a beautiful deer. Wow. I stopped and look at the deer and he at me. Lovely. And the deer didn't make fun of my slow pace or my tears. And then a fucking bear comes running across the road and the bike trail 20 yards ahead of me. Big bear. Really big bear. Made the very large buck look tiny. And this bear was not black. It was brown. Yikes. I stop and hold my breath and prepare to do a 180 and go downhill as fast as my shot legs will take me but the bear continues on its way. I wait 30 seconds and find wow I can pedal uphill pretty fast on an old bike with the wrong gears and spent legs if you think you might have a bear on your ass.
Welcome to Aspen.
In my fantasy world we would arrive Friday afternoon and the kids would hop on their bikes while the wife unpacked and I drank beers. We arrived late and there was no biking or beer drinking. Saturday I walked from house up to Clarks market with dogs and thought that isn't a bad walk--maybe 1 mile. Sunday I told my kids to ride to Clarks to buy some stuff for lunch (and get them out of our hair). Son came back and said that was an epic fail. Daughter tossed helmet, bike, bag, sunglass on ground and screamed a lot. What happened? Snowmass village is hilly. Very hilly. My kids are used to hazards like 6 way intersections, getting doored, alleys, crazy car, bike, and pedestrian traffic. Snowmass has none of that but, well that mile up to clarks has got to be 800 vertical feet starting from 7500 feet. Needless to say the kids have got some work ahead of them but shoot there isn't even a bunny slope equivalent around here to warm up on.
Today I went for a ride. About 30 years ago I used to race, but really haven't done much riding since then. My bike is 15 years old and set up for easy road racing on flat conditions. Today I rode from snowmass village to Aspen and back. Didn't look bad in terms of distance and heck the longer I was out of the house the better. Leaving snowmass was easy (too easy) as I went downhill fast. I am not sure I have ever had to change my brake pads on a bike but now checking those suckers will be a pre bike ritual. So everything went fine except for some serious uphill where I cried a lot and was reduced to walking the bike some.
On the return above the airport I was on the bike trail because I figured I was too slow to be on the road when I saw a beautiful deer. Wow. I stopped and look at the deer and he at me. Lovely. And the deer didn't make fun of my slow pace or my tears. And then a fucking bear comes running across the road and the bike trail 20 yards ahead of me. Big bear. Really big bear. Made the very large buck look tiny. And this bear was not black. It was brown. Yikes. I stop and hold my breath and prepare to do a 180 and go downhill as fast as my shot legs will take me but the bear continues on its way. I wait 30 seconds and find wow I can pedal uphill pretty fast on an old bike with the wrong gears and spent legs if you think you might have a bear on your ass.
Welcome to Aspen.
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
less than 48 hours
my wife looked at me and said this was a bad idea (my packing plan).....course the plan was some clothes and stuff from the kitchen --I figured 4 big boxes for each person and 4 for the kitchen--20 boxes but all would fit in the 12x6 u haul trailer along with bikes and skis and tools --no problem for me and the wife to do that and then..........
well there is dog stuff, and 5 guitars, and an amp, and music stands and oh yea the place we are renting doesn't have patio furniture so bring that, and bike rack, and sail signed by jimmy spithill and hockey stuff and son's sailing bag, plants fish tank and omg how many laptops do we own, and then their is my music collection and shoot better bring the wireless router etc etc
will marriage survive the move? stay tuned---going to unplug computer and wifi soon--hopefully next post will be from snowmass village sometime next week---
well there is dog stuff, and 5 guitars, and an amp, and music stands and oh yea the place we are renting doesn't have patio furniture so bring that, and bike rack, and sail signed by jimmy spithill and hockey stuff and son's sailing bag, plants fish tank and omg how many laptops do we own, and then their is my music collection and shoot better bring the wireless router etc etc
will marriage survive the move? stay tuned---going to unplug computer and wifi soon--hopefully next post will be from snowmass village sometime next week---
Monday, July 11, 2016
omg
ohhhh my god not ready.....not even close to ready. too much stuff and too little space in u haul trailer. Whose idea was it to move ourselves cause it was just the kitchen and clothes (that would be me the cheap skate).
less than 3 days and we are not ready--anyone want to drive a u haul rental truck to Aspen?
you can spend a lovely night in North Platt NE.
PS I have learned how to upload pics--this is one of my dogs pooping out my music
less than 3 days and we are not ready--anyone want to drive a u haul rental truck to Aspen?
you can spend a lovely night in North Platt NE.
PS I have learned how to upload pics--this is one of my dogs pooping out my music
Friday, July 8, 2016
dallas
I look at the news out of Dallas and think, I can't get out of this big city fast enough.....and then I remember that tonight we are going to walk 300 yards to OZ park and watch Raiders of the lost Ark outside. Fun. And yesterday my son lost his phone and today someone who found it on the street returned it to our house.
I am very exited to go but somethings will be missed. Maybe more than I care to admit.
Less than a week to move date and our new mantra is we can always come back for what we forget to pack...thank God.
I am very exited to go but somethings will be missed. Maybe more than I care to admit.
Less than a week to move date and our new mantra is we can always come back for what we forget to pack...thank God.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
feel like I was used
just signed up for a bundle with comcast-xfinity for snowmass..took 2 hours of chat and I feel like I got the raw end of the deal and I am sure it will only go downhill from here. And hotel California -roach motels got nothing on internet providers.
Sorry to be so short but, I have discovered that we have less than a week till move date and my stuff is growing exponentially. Not sure the trailer will be big enough...not telling the wife. Let see if she reads the blog to find out.
Sorry to be so short but, I have discovered that we have less than a week till move date and my stuff is growing exponentially. Not sure the trailer will be big enough...not telling the wife. Let see if she reads the blog to find out.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
music--something light for holiday weekend
yes the bags are not back and we are not ready to go....
my daughter is freaking out and sharing it so
but Raham we gotta go ....(apologies to john denver leaving on a jet plane)
I am packing up my music which raises some questions:
1. Is their radio in Aspen? and if so can you receive it?
2. What music should I play when I unpack to impress the neighbors? Something old and rare like early Iggy pop or cream b sides or go safe with Mumford and sons wolf on repeat (course that is like listening to the radio)
3. who the hell gets all their music burned from CDs to e format --I've got about 2000 cds and a quick calculation of current burn speed puts it at about 350 hours ---hell who has time for that--however going through the old disks has me burning more in case there is no radio
4. As a result does anyone listen to albums anymore or just individual songs (just finished burning cure for the pain by morphine during first part of this blog)
5. when was the last time you looked through all your old music---it really triggered some memories for me --I can pretty much tell you what came out the year I started dating the boss, went to college, had to listen to college roommate play tangerine dream till the needle dulled thanks toots)
6. what do you do when burning music and program asks you if you still want to download if music can't be found on the internet--holy smokes I thought everything was on the internet (that was a moby gwen stefani mash up)
7. Why to not ski steamboat--no music at lifts
8. what band in aspen needs a guitarist? (that is for son, I can't even hum a tune)
9. how many parents out there still control the music in their car? or is everyone in their own i-bubble?
10. would jimmy still be allowed to light his guitar on fire and play the star spangled banner or would that not be PC-too dangerous, offensive, risky, scary ?
Think if I can get around to it I unpack to velvet underground album max's Kansas city --shows I am cool, but not too loud and Velvets song was our first dance post marriage so a little bit romantic too
11 days to go and my stuff is reproducing faster than I can pack it---dogs starting to worry that there is something going on and it smells wrong
ps just finished burning jagged little pill (by either god or Alanis depending on how big a Jay and Silent Bob fan you are) and now downloading first Jane's addiction CD--do you see a drug theme here or is it just me
my daughter is freaking out and sharing it so
but Raham we gotta go ....(apologies to john denver leaving on a jet plane)
I am packing up my music which raises some questions:
1. Is their radio in Aspen? and if so can you receive it?
2. What music should I play when I unpack to impress the neighbors? Something old and rare like early Iggy pop or cream b sides or go safe with Mumford and sons wolf on repeat (course that is like listening to the radio)
3. who the hell gets all their music burned from CDs to e format --I've got about 2000 cds and a quick calculation of current burn speed puts it at about 350 hours ---hell who has time for that--however going through the old disks has me burning more in case there is no radio
4. As a result does anyone listen to albums anymore or just individual songs (just finished burning cure for the pain by morphine during first part of this blog)
5. when was the last time you looked through all your old music---it really triggered some memories for me --I can pretty much tell you what came out the year I started dating the boss, went to college, had to listen to college roommate play tangerine dream till the needle dulled thanks toots)
6. what do you do when burning music and program asks you if you still want to download if music can't be found on the internet--holy smokes I thought everything was on the internet (that was a moby gwen stefani mash up)
7. Why to not ski steamboat--no music at lifts
8. what band in aspen needs a guitarist? (that is for son, I can't even hum a tune)
9. how many parents out there still control the music in their car? or is everyone in their own i-bubble?
10. would jimmy still be allowed to light his guitar on fire and play the star spangled banner or would that not be PC-too dangerous, offensive, risky, scary ?
Think if I can get around to it I unpack to velvet underground album max's Kansas city --shows I am cool, but not too loud and Velvets song was our first dance post marriage so a little bit romantic too
11 days to go and my stuff is reproducing faster than I can pack it---dogs starting to worry that there is something going on and it smells wrong
ps just finished burning jagged little pill (by either god or Alanis depending on how big a Jay and Silent Bob fan you are) and now downloading first Jane's addiction CD--do you see a drug theme here or is it just me
Thursday, June 30, 2016
more things I learned about aspen-snowmass
well not only does snowmass not have mail delivery or garbage pick up, they also don't have AT&T or a JP Morgan -Chase branch. Our business has used Chase as its bank, but I guess we are going to have to look more local or West facing financial institution. Kinda amazed that JP Morgan private bank doesn't have a branch in Aspen the size of a Chicago whole foods (75k square feet). Do they not know about the wealth in Aspen or do they just not care or are they worried their bankers would all become stoned ski bums and forget to provide excellent expensive advice to their clients. Or maybe banking happens elsewhere for the wealthy and play stays in Aspen---not a bad Chinese wall.
Monday, June 27, 2016
well I didn't see that one coming.......
And no I am not talking about Brexit. I will let everyone else pull their hair out over that bit of stupidity I am shocked to find out that my car insurance is going to cost 35% more in Aspen than Chicago. Let me repeat that, the same insurance from the same carrier is going to be 35% more in Aspen.
Take a moment to think about this. Driving a car in Chicago is kinda like playing frogger on acid. Bad stuff comes at you from every direction, 6 way intersections with no turn signals, bikers going the wrong way on one way streets (sometimes on the sidewalk) with ear buds in sometimes with dogs in tow as you exit an alley with zero visibility, and tractor trailer trucks parked everywhere. Seriously you can't drive a mile without seeing someone run a stop sign and go the wrong way down a one way street. And the Uber drivers who are everywhere but seemed to learn to drive in Mayberry have no clue what they are doing or where they are going. Park your car outside and you are guaranteed bumper damage, leave it over night and someone will break your window to steal your half drunk diet coke. Needless to say the only risk in Aspen seems to be from bears or sliding off an icy road.
So what explains a 35% increase in auto insurance rates when going from a high crime and high rate of accidents area to a very low one? State insurance laws would be my guess. And that is just plain stupid. Which brings us back to Brexit. Stupid laws encourage stupid choices, and people are fed up. There is no reason car insurance should be more (instead of a lot less) in Aspen vs. Chicago. There is no good reason that any doctor should be 'out of network'. Think about how great that would be. And so on. And when citizens get fed up they get stupid and vote for Trump or toss themselves into a recession because Boris Johnson and Nigel seem like good blokes to toss down a pint with.
less than 3 weeks and I am not ready (not even close)
Take a moment to think about this. Driving a car in Chicago is kinda like playing frogger on acid. Bad stuff comes at you from every direction, 6 way intersections with no turn signals, bikers going the wrong way on one way streets (sometimes on the sidewalk) with ear buds in sometimes with dogs in tow as you exit an alley with zero visibility, and tractor trailer trucks parked everywhere. Seriously you can't drive a mile without seeing someone run a stop sign and go the wrong way down a one way street. And the Uber drivers who are everywhere but seemed to learn to drive in Mayberry have no clue what they are doing or where they are going. Park your car outside and you are guaranteed bumper damage, leave it over night and someone will break your window to steal your half drunk diet coke. Needless to say the only risk in Aspen seems to be from bears or sliding off an icy road.
So what explains a 35% increase in auto insurance rates when going from a high crime and high rate of accidents area to a very low one? State insurance laws would be my guess. And that is just plain stupid. Which brings us back to Brexit. Stupid laws encourage stupid choices, and people are fed up. There is no reason car insurance should be more (instead of a lot less) in Aspen vs. Chicago. There is no good reason that any doctor should be 'out of network'. Think about how great that would be. And so on. And when citizens get fed up they get stupid and vote for Trump or toss themselves into a recession because Boris Johnson and Nigel seem like good blokes to toss down a pint with.
less than 3 weeks and I am not ready (not even close)
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Today is.....international yoga day
which has me thinking about an old Seinfeld episode called Serenity Now. For those of you too old to remember it or too young to know what Seinfeld was (is) George's father is told by his doctor to say-scream serenity now whenever he gets upset as a relaxation technique.
22 days till move and my to do list is growing faster than rabbits on ecstasy, coke and red bull.
SERENITY NOW serenity now (a quick vid of the best of serenity now below)--happy yoga day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_9MglZrhs
22 days till move and my to do list is growing faster than rabbits on ecstasy, coke and red bull.
SERENITY NOW serenity now (a quick vid of the best of serenity now below)--happy yoga day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_9MglZrhs
Monday, June 20, 2016
some things shouldn't be decided by a nose...
And of course somethings are much better when the slimmest margins separate the winners from the losers. Most obviously this is true in sports. Game 7 of the Stanley cup going to 3 OTs. What could be better? The world series going to extra innings in game 7. A photo finish race. All great stuff.
Its not so good when a newly married couple starts talking about children and the husband says big like 5 + kids and the wife wants zero. That is a marriage which ain't gonna make it. Fortunately my family all supports moving to Aspen. The kids both did a shadow day at the school in December and asked if they had to return to Chicago or they could just stay. My wife runs an outdoor experiential company with most clients on the left coast and can ski me into the ground. And I think the legal weed business sound very interesting. So although anxiety is rising and saying goodby is proving hard, we are all rowing the same direction on the same boat. Yea.
Other things that shouldn't be decided by a hair:
1. Brexit--really this needs to be 65%+ one way or the other so England can move forward--this is a big decision and really should be carried by a super majority not a vote to put the issue to bed.
2. Some form of gun control (or lack there of) there should be a huge majority one way or the other
3. Trump v Clinton--kind of crazy unknown playboy outsider vs status quo expert. These are very different directions for the country to go, and it shouldn't be close
10 boxes packed
daughter starting to freak out
23 days to go
son has posted a crew looking for boat wanted ad for Aspen yacht club (he is the secret weapon for light wind days)
Its not so good when a newly married couple starts talking about children and the husband says big like 5 + kids and the wife wants zero. That is a marriage which ain't gonna make it. Fortunately my family all supports moving to Aspen. The kids both did a shadow day at the school in December and asked if they had to return to Chicago or they could just stay. My wife runs an outdoor experiential company with most clients on the left coast and can ski me into the ground. And I think the legal weed business sound very interesting. So although anxiety is rising and saying goodby is proving hard, we are all rowing the same direction on the same boat. Yea.
Other things that shouldn't be decided by a hair:
1. Brexit--really this needs to be 65%+ one way or the other so England can move forward--this is a big decision and really should be carried by a super majority not a vote to put the issue to bed.
2. Some form of gun control (or lack there of) there should be a huge majority one way or the other
3. Trump v Clinton--kind of crazy unknown playboy outsider vs status quo expert. These are very different directions for the country to go, and it shouldn't be close
10 boxes packed
daughter starting to freak out
23 days to go
son has posted a crew looking for boat wanted ad for Aspen yacht club (he is the secret weapon for light wind days)
Thursday, June 9, 2016
no parking
Chicago (and IL)continues its winning ways of being the most user friendly city.
The answer to the question from yesterday re parking my car with a Uhaul trailer attached in front of my house is no no and no. No special permit possible and they might tow it just for fun (or boot it). The city has also eliminated grace periods for meters, and grace periods for renewing city parking stickers (used to be 15 days and 5 minutes respectively). Even better for license plate renewal the state stopped sending out notices to renew but happily ticked you for failure to go check you plate sticker, see it was time to renew blah blah blah.........
Bottom line is when you are broke you can't do the right thing and when you can't do the right thing people get angry and either shoot each other or leave for Aspen.
35 days to go
can't happen soon enough
The answer to the question from yesterday re parking my car with a Uhaul trailer attached in front of my house is no no and no. No special permit possible and they might tow it just for fun (or boot it). The city has also eliminated grace periods for meters, and grace periods for renewing city parking stickers (used to be 15 days and 5 minutes respectively). Even better for license plate renewal the state stopped sending out notices to renew but happily ticked you for failure to go check you plate sticker, see it was time to renew blah blah blah.........
Bottom line is when you are broke you can't do the right thing and when you can't do the right thing people get angry and either shoot each other or leave for Aspen.
35 days to go
can't happen soon enough
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Going to the dogs
I have 3 golden retrievers, ages 1, 4 and 13. Yesterday I tested the gate my son built to keep the dogs in the way back---it kept the older two from roaming but the pup snuck through and decided to help me drive. I am sending him back to the drawing board.
When we get there, how will the oldest handle the altitude. We will be at 8000 feet. She sounds like Darth Vader on a bad day every day--I worry how that will go. And will any of them try to run away and make there way back to Chicago(seriously would anyone try to run back through Nebraska, why would Bruce Springsteen name a album that?) And what do I do if they chase after Elk? I have been told I will be fined if they chase after Elk, Moose, Bears etc. Right now they chase after litter and rats.
I'll have to see if I can figure out how to upload pics so I can share dogs chasing Elk and escaping the way back to assist with driving and eating road trip snacks.
36 days to go
Fun question: U-haul trailer is rented, but will the city let me park it overnight in front of my house, and if not what the hell do I do with it?
When we get there, how will the oldest handle the altitude. We will be at 8000 feet. She sounds like Darth Vader on a bad day every day--I worry how that will go. And will any of them try to run away and make there way back to Chicago(seriously would anyone try to run back through Nebraska, why would Bruce Springsteen name a album that?) And what do I do if they chase after Elk? I have been told I will be fined if they chase after Elk, Moose, Bears etc. Right now they chase after litter and rats.
I'll have to see if I can figure out how to upload pics so I can share dogs chasing Elk and escaping the way back to assist with driving and eating road trip snacks.
36 days to go
Fun question: U-haul trailer is rented, but will the city let me park it overnight in front of my house, and if not what the hell do I do with it?
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