dead climbers, bears, red ROCKS and yes the move is done

lots more to follow--my computer is unpacked, we have finished our second move in a bit over a month and the kids are both back in school soooooooo.........


The last post was about dying climbers--in the last 6 weeks 5 people have died climbing capitol peak.  Ages 21-35.  FYI by comparison in 2016 5 people died climbing Everest.  A couple of my buddies tried to convince me to climb Capitol last year and after I looked at the knife edge feature I decided to take a pass but they kinda poo pooed the risks.  Knife edge and Capitol are not to be poo pooed its some serious shit.  Above is a picture of the knife edge and someone being stupid.

My new hood is full of bears.  I have seen a bear pretty much every day.  I had one take a huge dump in my kinda fenced in yard right next to the hot tub.  I don't let my dogs poop in the yard but the bears are not as well trained.  Speaking of not well trained bears this morning while walking the dogs I found this.



In Chicago they set rat traps.  In Aspen when a bear breaks into multiple homes multiple times they set bear traps.  Seems the rats are smarter than the bears---a big steel cage with some garbage in it traps a bear, rats require a very nasty trap well placed with just the right food.

I took my son and some of his friends to reggae fest at Red Rocks this weekend for his birthday.  If you are a music fan a show at Red Rocks has got to be on the bucket list.  Amazing sights and sounds.  Acoustics are just about perfect from anywhere and the view of the rocks (lit and unlit) and Denver is unreal.

I don't do that

Seems there has been a lot of newsprint lately about people dying climbing in my backyard.  A couple of people have died on capital and maroon over the past week or so.

I have no interest in doing activities where a mistake most likely will kill you.  Yes it adds to the thrill  and brag factor, but I make so many mistakes it seems crazy to put myself in a situation where a trip, a loss of focus, or some other failure results in death.  There is plenty of climbing and hiking and other adventures I can do where a mistakes means a twisted ankle or broken wrist and a long painful walk home.

If you screw up on Capitol peak knife edge you most likely die.  A mistake in the couloirs in the Bells--death.  There is plenty of trails that will give you all work out and views you can ask for.  Enjoy them.  Maybe skip the ones with zero tolerance for error, I do.

I am moving for the next two days, then on vacation for a week, followed by unpacking and getting the kids started in school while watching the eclipse and trying to find a suitable location for the Aspen Science Center to run after school programming for kids in the roaring fork valley.

That is my way of saying--if I don't post anything for a couple of weeks I didn't die climbing Capitol, I am just unpacking boxes, and caught up in the detritus of life.

it's not you it's us

so a couple of friends have been wondering why we haven't returned their calls-texts-emails

hummmm:
a.  wife's sister undergoing breast cancer treatment and surgery
b.  my dad undergoing C0-C5 fusion (resulting in 3 last minute trips to St louis)
c.  moving homes twice in a month and the second move into a twilight zone because we must be out of one home aug 11 but can't move into other home till aug 21 (also the first day of school)
d.  unreal rental contract negotiations including but not limited to trying to value not having heat in our old home or working appliances, trying to get paid our last months rent when we are not actually staying in our current home for the last month (ie we paid first, last, and security deposit when we signed the lease and we are only staying 1 month--why the last month should be withheld for 30 days is beyond explaining)
e.  moving company changing move date with less than a week prior to move

on a different note driving to Denver a couple of times a month is making me more of a local (I think)

off to pack more stuff which is multiplying faster than fruit flies

did you know there was not 1 but 2 trailer parks in Aspen?

There is a very nice one located in the Smuggler neighborhood 1/2 mile from Aspen core.  And then there is Aspen Village.  Not so nice.  More sorta spooky.  It's located 10 miles from Aspen down 82.  It's closer to Basalt than Aspen, but in the Aspen school district.  And you can buy this lovely 1100 square foot trailer home there for 420k.  Follow the link to check it out.  Holy smokes.  most expensive trailer park home

We have also moved into the formal negotiations stage regarding getting our deposit back on our last home.  There are a number of issues which are hard to determine a fair cost. (and why don't I get paid interest on my security deposit which was held for over 1 1/2 years)?


Any ideas you have would be great:

1.  repair walls where 'removable' hooks were placed.  4 or 5 spots to be patched and painted.
2.  new carpet (cost per square foot)---replacing base level carpet
3.  non working oven (cost per day)
4.  no heat in daughter's bedroom (the whole stay)
5.  no heat in house (had to use space heaters) plus inconvenience of having plumbers working on heat for 3+ weeks

PS anyone want to rent a place in Chicago?

rental market update

first a quick history

In March I asked my landlord if we could extend our lease and he said no--he was planning on moving in.

Late March-Early April we started our search.

We saw a place listed as 2400 square feet ---however 700 square feet were in the garage which also had a couch and TV in it making it 'livable'.   Pass.  (and 200k marble countertops )PASS PASS

We saw a place with a stoned kid hiding in the closet (during a school day.   where else you going to hang out).  We made an offer (ex kid) and then the owner decided against renting it.  Seems you had to take the kid too to get the deal.

We saw a place listed for 10k with a July 10 move in date (a little high in price but it was alright).  We made an offer and the owner responded with an end of August move in date and increased the price to 13k.  We declined their new and improved terms.

We saw a place with lots of mouse traps scattered about, appliances that seemed not to work, a stench of mold even with 5 air purifiers running, and a 12 degree decent driveway approach.  We said no fucking way.

We saw a house with platform beds, and much of the extra furniture from Animal House and no garage.  Pass.

We saw a house with lots of animal skins, kitchen appliances that didn't seem to be grounded, and was a mile walk to any kind of transportation.  We made an offer--getting desperate as the clock was ticking.  Our offer was rejected because they received a similar offer from a family with only 1 dog, and they accepted that offer.  Postscript something fell through with the other offer, and they cleaned out the animal pelts, removed much of the clutter in the house, bricked off one of the garages to make it their storage space for the aforementioned clutter and then decided to increase the rent by 33%.  We did not  reoffer.

We gave up on trying to find anything we liked and settled for something that might just be ok.  We wound up moving into a very small house across the street from our last house.  After moving in it became clear that it was too small, too loud, and really not furnished at all.  Oh crap.  The owner agreed to let us break the lease.  We will be moving out after one month.  

And moving to a pretty great place in East Aspen.  Yea.  However, some of the terms suck.  It's a great home, book your dates but ......well the rent is 11.5k per month which is pretty pricey (but given the house and the location actually 'Aspen reasonable'.  However, we must vacate the premises for a week in the spring and a week in the summer so the owners family can use the home.  WTF.  Also we pay the utility bill as a pass through to the owner and none of them are negotiable.  So I am paying for streaming music, security and more cable boxes than I ever thought of owning.  And I have to run the wine cellar (fan and cooling) whether I want it or not.  And it's a big wine cellar.  And we are not big drinkers (I guess I should work on that).

Oh yea and the dates between when we have to move out and move in leave about 12 days of twilight zone leading right into the start of school.  So if you don't know me but see someone walking two golden retrievers mumbling the serenity prayer to themselves you probably found me.

SERENITY NOW