don't compost because no good deed goes unpunished

We get our compost collected every Wednesday AM.  Today my son and daughter went into the garage, opened the door got ready to leave and then closed the garage and returned to the house.  Why?  Da Bears.

The white can the yearling is playing with is our compost.  My son didn't want to drive between the mother and her baby bear so we waited and took some video.  As a result my kids were late to school.  

late to school=tardy

too many tardies =report on academic record

negative report on record=poorer college options

Bottom line composting means my kids colleges options are negatively impacted.  So while composting might be good for the Earth it isn't good for my kids chances of success.  Think big picture?  Or family first?  Aint that always the question.

Dang that cub is cute.  

digital billboards

In Snowmass Village you are greeted  with a billboard telling you to keep you dogs on leash because of multiple dog-coyote interactions.  Interactions is a nice way to say coyotes eating your dog.  In the past week there have been 4 'incidents' in Snowmass Village.  Sadly my dogs don't know how to read the billboard and are not pleased with being on lead all the time.  There does seem to be more human-wildlife interaction every year.

Heading into Aspen the first digital billboard you see at the town line tells you that you must wear a mask indoors. The second one you see at the end of the S curve tells you that you must lock your garbage or face a fine.

Think about that.  If you don't lock your garbage you will be warned and then fined.  If you don't wear a mask you might or might not be warned but for sure you will not be fined.  Does Aspen put more weight on the lives of bears than humans?  

That got me thinking about what would happen if I shot a bear that broke into my house vs shooting a human doing the same.  I asked a couple of friends in law enforcement and while they wouldn't go on record nor say they had really studied the issue their first thoughts where that  you could be in more legal jeopardy from killing a bear than a human.

Lastly, for all you visitors it looks like Aspen is going to try to deliver a very 'normal' ski experience this winter.  For instance the BOH has indicated they will not reduce restaurant capacity until the hospital suspends elective procedures.  Yes you got that right, you can spay champagne to your heart's content (or your wallet's limit) at Cloud 9 until the hospital is in such dire straits that they can't function normally.  And the BOH has indicated they won't shut restaurants until after the hospital is in crisis mode triaging patients and rationing care.

Is it at all possible that we have got our priorities mixed up?  I believe there is a Chinese curse 'may you live in interesting times'.  Yes indeed.   

PS ---Pitkin county has been in the COVID RED ZONE for the past three weeks of our off season.

FUCK Texas

Aggressive title.  But it got your attention, so fuck yea.

Check out this lovely Texas native's parking job.

If you can't tell what you are looking at that is an Audi Q5 rockin Texas plates (plate GWS 9797 if you really care).  They did a great job parallel parking in downtown Aspen.  They got their tires straight--and left plenty of space between the trees---wait trees.  Yea they parked on the sidewalk.  And why not?  There was space so why not park where you want.  Sure there is a parking garage around the corner but that costs money.  Yea you could drive into the east end and circle for a bit and find something because its off season, but that is a pain and I am from Fucking Texas so I am gonna park right fucking here and own you libs.

If you wonder why some Aspen locals are getting frustrated with some of our part time citizens this picture sums it up, they got the Aspen sticker and the Texas plates and they act like they own the place.  

In a similar vein my son almost killed someone on Highline road (Snowmass) yesterday.  He was driving up the road (yes 5 mph over the speed limit) and an oncoming car was flashing their lights at him.  He slowed down, assuming around the curve there was a deer or a cop.  Nope, it was two visitors standing in the middle of the road taking pictures.  He slammed on the breaks and avoided contact, but if the other car hadn't warned him it could have been very ugly.  Why do tourists think this is some kind of bizzaro lifestyles of the rich and famous Disneyland.  If you wouldn't stop in the middle of the street in your hometown to take a picture don't do it here.  Do you park on the sidewalk in Texas?

Now to get political---do you know what society is with no laws?  It's called anarchy.  Laws infringe on your personal liberty (whether to take a picture in the middle of the road, park on a sidewalk, get vaccinated, or carry a gun).  As an employer or employee do you really want to have a workplace full of unvaccinated people?  Do you really want no limits on firearms---just think of 7 year olds with AR-15s and handguns.  Or to move to a less loaded topic how about a world with no driving rules (speed limits, stop signs all those things that infringe on your right to GO).  Who wants to live in a world with no driving laws?  Thought so, now shut up and go get your COVID jab.

On a slightly different topic some friends of mine made a mistake and went out to dinner with a couple from out of town.  A bottle of wine, 2 apps, 3 mains and a couple of orders of veg and they walked out $800 bucks lighter.  They won't be going out to dinner again any time soon.

$800 dinner menue

OMG I won Powerball

 Actually I didn't.  

I was at Citymarket in Aspen and after finding the shelves bare of seltzer I looked up while checking out and noticed the current powerball jackpot was $20 Million.  That got me thinking---if I won powerball what kind of home could I buy in Aspen?

Answer is not much.

I figured I would take the lump sum, pay the taxes and take my powerball winnings to Aspen Sotheby's and buy myself an excellent Aspen mansion.  Except after the lump sum discount and taxes my payout is 'only' $8.8 million.  The 'average' home sales price in Aspen for September was $12.2m and price per square foot was $2k.  So yea you could buy a meh 4k square foot home with your powerball winnings.  Or you could keep $1m for some improvements and taxes etc and buy this gem for $7.75m.

powerball winnings home

Anyone besides me wondering if Aspen homes might look a bit like tulip bulbs.