This being the last day of a short month, a short entry should be in order.
Tamara and I left Ouray on Tuesday, February 25, to attend the Denver Gift Show. Things were going well until we reached Fairplay, which is a small town 80 miles southwest of Denver. As we slowed down to the city limit speed, I felt a pop in the rear of the truck and a grinding noise. Thinking it was a blown tire, I pulled over to the side of the road to check it out. As I toured around the Expedition, all tires seemed fully inflated. A check under the check did not reveal where the noise had come from. I got back in the truck, started driving, and did not notice any more noise, and decided to continue driving toward Denver. About 3 miles on the other side of Fairplay, the noise came back with a vengeance and increased volume. Fairplay was not playing fair. Deciding that things were not going well, I turned around and headed back to Fairplay, where a small garage still had activity visible inside, even though the sign said CLOSED. The three workers agreed to look at the truck, and after one of them took off the lug nuts to the right rear wheel after burning his hands on the hot hub, he surmised it was a break failure and possibly even a broken right rear axle. Luckily, the garage was a AAA tow service with a flat bed truck, and we ended up being towed the rest of the way to Denver. That is a heck of a way to save gas.
The truck was towed to a Ford dealer in Denver, but by now it was nearly 7:30pm and the service department was closed, as were any nearby rental car agencies. We called a friend of ours in Denver who we had known in Southern California. He came to the Ford dealer to pick us up, took us to Denver International Airport to rent a car, and we headed back to our other friend’s condo who had been gracious enough to let us stay there, even though she was out of town on business. So our plan to arrive in Denver at around 6:00pm and have a leisurely evening was replaced by a hectic evening and arriving at 11:30pm and going straight to bed.
I’ll probably write more later, but for now as February nears its end, so ends this tale.
One last thing: Can money be held for ransom?
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The White Gold of Telluride
After living 4 years in Colorado, I finally went skiing in Telluride yesterday. The last time I had gone skiing was in Winter Park, Colorado 10 years ago as was mentioned in the previous post. The weather was great as we loaded the ski gear in Expedition at 9am and headed out of Ouray, but not before stopping to load up some orders to be delivered to Rocky Mountain Scenics (RMS) customers in Telluride. Thus, the entire day would be a business trip since the plan included taking pictures of the town and the slopes.
I had put on my old ski bibs that were probably about 15 years old. They also had some tears in them at the leg bottoms because I had used them for ice climbing and had caught my crampons on them a few times. It made them look like that down jacket of the physical therapist mentioned in the previous post. I pushed the stuffing back in and wondered if the Telluride chic on the slopes would notice.
The first stop was at the ski rental shop. I got some 160 carved skis, and some front buckle ski boots. That was the first time in a long time I wore front buckle boots as all my previous boots had been the state-of-the-art-at-the-time rear-entry types and my last skis had been straight edge 210s. Some new goggles were also in order since the last pair that had been stored in my boot bag had deteriorated. The boot rental place also does business with RMS, so after I had the ski gear fitted and paid for the goggles, I asked how much for the ski rentals. The owner, Eric, said, “Comp,” I said, “Sweet” and Tamara and I headed to the slopes. Tamara is fortunate enough to have bought her gear before the financial crisis.
By the time we parked the truck at Mountain Village (a community up the slopes from Telluride), put on our boots, and skied to the bottom of the lifts to purchase our lift tickets, it was noon thirty. We asked the ticket seller when the half-day price kicked in. She responded, “Noon.” Sweeter! Since Tamara and I knew we were good for only a half day of skiing, anyway, this fit in with our plan and our budget.
Having made it to the bottom of the hill with little incident, I was getting my ski legs back – just like riding a bicycle. On the advice of Eric, we road a lift high up the hill and took a long, easy green run down the groomed ego snow. The next time we went up even higher and took a 4-mile green/blue run back to the same starting point. By now we were getting a bit bored with the easy stuff, but first a break for some food and a beer.
After sharing a chicken sandwich and each having a New Belgium Fat Tire, we headed for new terrain and adventure. On the way up on the chair lift, I finally spotted some more steep runs and some with bumps. Once off the chair lift, I directed Tamara towards the blue run with the bumps. She has never been thrilled by bumps, but we headed down. I had been carrying my camera in a small backpack all day, and halfway down the first bump run I took a spill. Tamara found me falling to be amusing. No spills, no thrills! By the time I reached the bottom of the bumps I was feeling my confidence build. Tamara slowly made her way down. She likes long straights and speed.
Once we reached the bottom again, we took the same chair up. This time Tamara opted for the groomed run as I headed back to the bumps. I was able to navigate the bumps non-stop and non-spill but lots of thrills, and Tamara and I ended up back at the chair lift at the same time. By this time we had gotten our fill of the first day of skiing, and jumped on the gondola to get back to the parking structure. We both agreed it was a great first day and had to return to do it again soon.
I turned in my skis and gear and Eric asked how it went with the carved skis. I responded, “They made me feel 10 years younger, but I know tomorrow I will feel 10 years older!” The pain was already setting into the bones and of the muscles used in the day’s activities.
We went to the RMS customers and delivered the orders and took additional orders. By the time we left Telluride it was nearly 7pm. We had intended to stop at the new brewery in Ridgway, but when we reached Ridgway it was getting late. The brewery does not serve food and our stomachs were growling, so we headed to a nice restaurant, Drakes, and had a wonderful dinner. We got some of the staff into trouble because we talked to them too much, or should I say they talked to us too much. We enjoy talking to people and getting to know them.
Thus ended our day, and it was good.
On another note, for some reason when I buy Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and take it home, I always store it in the same place – second shelf to the left side of the refrigerator. And, I always make sure the labels are turned out toward me. Maybe in a past life I was a product placement director for movies, or maybe I’m very anal. And another thing, why is there no “d” in refrigerator, but there is one in the fridge?
I had put on my old ski bibs that were probably about 15 years old. They also had some tears in them at the leg bottoms because I had used them for ice climbing and had caught my crampons on them a few times. It made them look like that down jacket of the physical therapist mentioned in the previous post. I pushed the stuffing back in and wondered if the Telluride chic on the slopes would notice.
The first stop was at the ski rental shop. I got some 160 carved skis, and some front buckle ski boots. That was the first time in a long time I wore front buckle boots as all my previous boots had been the state-of-the-art-at-the-time rear-entry types and my last skis had been straight edge 210s. Some new goggles were also in order since the last pair that had been stored in my boot bag had deteriorated. The boot rental place also does business with RMS, so after I had the ski gear fitted and paid for the goggles, I asked how much for the ski rentals. The owner, Eric, said, “Comp,” I said, “Sweet” and Tamara and I headed to the slopes. Tamara is fortunate enough to have bought her gear before the financial crisis.
By the time we parked the truck at Mountain Village (a community up the slopes from Telluride), put on our boots, and skied to the bottom of the lifts to purchase our lift tickets, it was noon thirty. We asked the ticket seller when the half-day price kicked in. She responded, “Noon.” Sweeter! Since Tamara and I knew we were good for only a half day of skiing, anyway, this fit in with our plan and our budget.
Having made it to the bottom of the hill with little incident, I was getting my ski legs back – just like riding a bicycle. On the advice of Eric, we road a lift high up the hill and took a long, easy green run down the groomed ego snow. The next time we went up even higher and took a 4-mile green/blue run back to the same starting point. By now we were getting a bit bored with the easy stuff, but first a break for some food and a beer.
After sharing a chicken sandwich and each having a New Belgium Fat Tire, we headed for new terrain and adventure. On the way up on the chair lift, I finally spotted some more steep runs and some with bumps. Once off the chair lift, I directed Tamara towards the blue run with the bumps. She has never been thrilled by bumps, but we headed down. I had been carrying my camera in a small backpack all day, and halfway down the first bump run I took a spill. Tamara found me falling to be amusing. No spills, no thrills! By the time I reached the bottom of the bumps I was feeling my confidence build. Tamara slowly made her way down. She likes long straights and speed.
Once we reached the bottom again, we took the same chair up. This time Tamara opted for the groomed run as I headed back to the bumps. I was able to navigate the bumps non-stop and non-spill but lots of thrills, and Tamara and I ended up back at the chair lift at the same time. By this time we had gotten our fill of the first day of skiing, and jumped on the gondola to get back to the parking structure. We both agreed it was a great first day and had to return to do it again soon.
I turned in my skis and gear and Eric asked how it went with the carved skis. I responded, “They made me feel 10 years younger, but I know tomorrow I will feel 10 years older!” The pain was already setting into the bones and of the muscles used in the day’s activities.
We went to the RMS customers and delivered the orders and took additional orders. By the time we left Telluride it was nearly 7pm. We had intended to stop at the new brewery in Ridgway, but when we reached Ridgway it was getting late. The brewery does not serve food and our stomachs were growling, so we headed to a nice restaurant, Drakes, and had a wonderful dinner. We got some of the staff into trouble because we talked to them too much, or should I say they talked to us too much. We enjoy talking to people and getting to know them.
Thus ended our day, and it was good.
On another note, for some reason when I buy Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and take it home, I always store it in the same place – second shelf to the left side of the refrigerator. And, I always make sure the labels are turned out toward me. Maybe in a past life I was a product placement director for movies, or maybe I’m very anal. And another thing, why is there no “d” in refrigerator, but there is one in the fridge?
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
It Makes Me Miss the Dentists’ Chair
This is the second day in a row that Tamara and I have not had to go into work at the stores. It feels kinda strange. We haven’t had two days off in a row and just stayed home in a long time. We may head to Telluride on Thursday or Friday. We have some customers to visit and I hope to get in some skiing for the first time in nearly 10 years and also take some pictures for some new postcards and the 2010 calendar. The last time I went skiing was in Winter Park, Colorado. The parabolic/curved skies had just come out. I told Tamara that the following ski season I would rent some parabolic demo skis and see what they are all about. I haven’t skied since, mainly due to time and financial constraints. Maybe I’ll just take my old K2 210s and use them just to freak out the freakazoids in Telluride.
Geez, I just joined Facebook. What the hell is that all about. I guess it’s a good way to find people from the past and keep up to date with others in “the book.” If you have a page, shoot me an invite. Or not.
I went to a physical therapist (pt) this morning for some tendonitis in my left elbow. This was my second visit to her. Last Friday was my first visit and I arrived at 9am and the pt had not yet made an appearance. When she did arrive, she was wearing an old thermal jacket that was adorned with duct tape to keep the stuffing from flying out. Tamara recommended the pt because she uses LASER to treat the problem. I had no sooner laid down on the examining table when she starts telling me she does not tolerate authority, her views of the current political climate, and other subjects I really didn’t make the appointment to be objected to. Maybe this was her technique for diverting my attention away from what she was doing to my elbow. After the 10-minute treatment I made another appointment for this morning. I advised Tamara that I was not overly thrilled with the pt, but I would return for another visit. This morning she was there when I arrived and directed me to a different room than what was used at the previous visit. This time before I even had time to lie down she started talking about the snowstorm we were supposed to have last night that did not develop and how she wished she could move back to New York but the economy currently prevents her from doing so. She then started talking about her horse who had symptoms of tendonitis and that there was no one in this area competent enough to treat her horse – “They are morons.” O-Kaaaayyyyy. While she worked on my elbow she started talking about Telluride and the skiers there and how rude they were, but the snowboarders are ok (this is a woman at least 60 years on this earth). She then started ranting about the people in Telluride having too much money. For her, probably anyone who doesn’t have to duct tape their clothing has too much money. The treatment was finally over, and as I pined for the relaxing time I have spent in dentists’ chairs, I headed to the lobby. She didn’t come out to set me up for a next appointment, so I left and will probably never return to her for the rest of my treatment. I wonder how much it would cost to send her back to New York? Maybe she could ride her lame horse.
Have you ever watched politicians, entertainers, etc when they are addressing a crowd or on stage for an award or presentation and wondered who they are pointing to in the crowd and why? Are the people in the crowd major donors/supporters, friends, family, or are they exposing themselves?
Geez, I just joined Facebook. What the hell is that all about. I guess it’s a good way to find people from the past and keep up to date with others in “the book.” If you have a page, shoot me an invite. Or not.
I went to a physical therapist (pt) this morning for some tendonitis in my left elbow. This was my second visit to her. Last Friday was my first visit and I arrived at 9am and the pt had not yet made an appearance. When she did arrive, she was wearing an old thermal jacket that was adorned with duct tape to keep the stuffing from flying out. Tamara recommended the pt because she uses LASER to treat the problem. I had no sooner laid down on the examining table when she starts telling me she does not tolerate authority, her views of the current political climate, and other subjects I really didn’t make the appointment to be objected to. Maybe this was her technique for diverting my attention away from what she was doing to my elbow. After the 10-minute treatment I made another appointment for this morning. I advised Tamara that I was not overly thrilled with the pt, but I would return for another visit. This morning she was there when I arrived and directed me to a different room than what was used at the previous visit. This time before I even had time to lie down she started talking about the snowstorm we were supposed to have last night that did not develop and how she wished she could move back to New York but the economy currently prevents her from doing so. She then started talking about her horse who had symptoms of tendonitis and that there was no one in this area competent enough to treat her horse – “They are morons.” O-Kaaaayyyyy. While she worked on my elbow she started talking about Telluride and the skiers there and how rude they were, but the snowboarders are ok (this is a woman at least 60 years on this earth). She then started ranting about the people in Telluride having too much money. For her, probably anyone who doesn’t have to duct tape their clothing has too much money. The treatment was finally over, and as I pined for the relaxing time I have spent in dentists’ chairs, I headed to the lobby. She didn’t come out to set me up for a next appointment, so I left and will probably never return to her for the rest of my treatment. I wonder how much it would cost to send her back to New York? Maybe she could ride her lame horse.
Have you ever watched politicians, entertainers, etc when they are addressing a crowd or on stage for an award or presentation and wondered who they are pointing to in the crowd and why? Are the people in the crowd major donors/supporters, friends, family, or are they exposing themselves?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Thai-ing one On
Here it is, Presidents’ Day, so we survived the Valentine weekend. There was no snow this weekend and it helped in getting visitors into town and into the stores. All the hotels were booked this weekend. Tamara and I worked the two stores on Saturday (and Tuesday through Sunday), as we normally do each week this time of year. After closing at 5pm on Saturday we went to a wedding of another business owner in town, Michael, who also moved here from California shortly before we did nearly four years ago. He is a photographer who bought a building which used to house a local bar, The Portal, and turned it into a photography studio and retail store that sells items from Southeast Asia. Michael likes Southeast Asia and the women from there. The woman he married on Saturday is from Thailand. I guess you could say Michael finally Thai-ed the knot.
After closing the store on Friday, another friend of mine, Bob, who owns Switzerland of America Jeep Rentals, and I went to O’Brien’s Pub for a couple of beers. Bob is the husband of Brandy, who was mentioned earlier as being our teammate in the spelling bee. Bob and I sat at the bar and tried not to end up spilling beers. We had the Stone Brewery Pale Ale. Stone Brewery is in our former state of California, so we are familiar with its beers, such as Arrogant Bastard. Tamara and I even went to a beer tasting dinner years ago at one of our favorite brew pubs in Long Beach, Belmont Brewing Company, that featured a selection of Stone Brewery beers. Yummy dinner, yummier beers! Anyway, Bob and I had a couple of twenty ouncers. It was some kickass beer and the alcohol content was a bit high. High alcohol content and high altitudes here in the San Juan Mountains make for some quick highs. I tell people that drinking beer at this altitude has saved me a lot of money since I don’t have to drink as much to get a good buzz. Another good thing about living here in this one-mile square town of Ouray is that we walk almost everywhere. That eliminates the drinking and driving combination. Of course, drinking and then walking home to our house on Oak Street can be a challenge – both because of the altitude and the uphill climb of Oak Street. It tends to sober one up just a bit.
After closing the store on Friday, another friend of mine, Bob, who owns Switzerland of America Jeep Rentals, and I went to O’Brien’s Pub for a couple of beers. Bob is the husband of Brandy, who was mentioned earlier as being our teammate in the spelling bee. Bob and I sat at the bar and tried not to end up spilling beers. We had the Stone Brewery Pale Ale. Stone Brewery is in our former state of California, so we are familiar with its beers, such as Arrogant Bastard. Tamara and I even went to a beer tasting dinner years ago at one of our favorite brew pubs in Long Beach, Belmont Brewing Company, that featured a selection of Stone Brewery beers. Yummy dinner, yummier beers! Anyway, Bob and I had a couple of twenty ouncers. It was some kickass beer and the alcohol content was a bit high. High alcohol content and high altitudes here in the San Juan Mountains make for some quick highs. I tell people that drinking beer at this altitude has saved me a lot of money since I don’t have to drink as much to get a good buzz. Another good thing about living here in this one-mile square town of Ouray is that we walk almost everywhere. That eliminates the drinking and driving combination. Of course, drinking and then walking home to our house on Oak Street can be a challenge – both because of the altitude and the uphill climb of Oak Street. It tends to sober one up just a bit.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Friday the 13th
Oh, boy! Friday the 13th -- just another great day in paradise. We ended up getting just over an inch of snow last night – just like a little powdered sugar on a donut. No shoveling required, but I did scrape the sidewalk in front of our stores on Main Street just so the sun could hit it and melt it off. It was supposed to snow today, but the sun has made an appearance all day through some high, hazy clouds. Someone in Silverton told me a few weeks ago that the only people who try to predict the weather in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado are people new to the area and fools! Living here in the natural amphitheater we have learned to watch the weather radars and such, but until the weather gets here we never know what we’ll get – kinda like that Valentines Day box of chocolates.
There was a mention as part of a story arc in Doonesbury this week about the Telluride Film Festival. I actually made a post to the comments section on Thursday and mentioned that some people actually come to Ouray to escape Telluride. If you ever get a chance to visit the two locations I believe you will realize why quite a few tourists think along those lines.
Well, this is a triple-header weekend – Friday the 13th, Valentines Day, and Presidents’ Day. We are hoping for a good weekend business-wise, but just as we don’t try to predict the weather here, we don’t try to predict the customer traffic either until it actually happens. I’ll let you know.
There was a mention as part of a story arc in Doonesbury this week about the Telluride Film Festival. I actually made a post to the comments section on Thursday and mentioned that some people actually come to Ouray to escape Telluride. If you ever get a chance to visit the two locations I believe you will realize why quite a few tourists think along those lines.
Well, this is a triple-header weekend – Friday the 13th, Valentines Day, and Presidents’ Day. We are hoping for a good weekend business-wise, but just as we don’t try to predict the weather here, we don’t try to predict the customer traffic either until it actually happens. I’ll let you know.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Shovelling Snow
Yesterday brought the sun back to the canyon in which Ouray is nestled. Of course, a sunny day after a snowy day means shoveling the snow that fell! I was out at it at 7:30am so I could be finished before going in to open up Mountain Fever at its scheduled opening time of 11am. Since we have 2 decks on the north side of the house, I usually start on the lower deck and push as much of the snow over the side as possible. Just like a golfer has a favorite club to be used in certain situations, I have a choice of 4 different shovel styles from which to choose. I prefer the wide shovel with a long handle that has an angle on it to where I can stand up straight and push most of the snow to the desired location. It’s kind of like a show shovel on a stick. So I push all the snow off the lower deck and then head up to the upper deck via our metal staircase we had installed that is anchored into a huge boulder sitting on the boundary of our property. On the upper deck I shove the snow towards the edge and then give it a final push through the guard rail, hopefully with enough force to that it shoots over the lower deck which juts out about 5 feet more than the upper deck. Once finished with the upper deck, I go back down to the lower deck and push off any snow that I was unable to shoot out to the back yard. Back yard – that’s a laugh. Our lot is one of the smallest in town and is taken up by the house, except for the 5 feet setback in all directions from the property line.
Once the lower deck is re-shoveled, I head back up to the upper deck and climb up to the north face of the roof that covers the one floor of the split level. I shovel the snow over to the south side where it will be scraped off later with a snow rake. We shovel the snow off the roof, especially the north side, to avoid ice dams. If that is not done, the damn ice can build up as a ridge on the roof and push ice back up under the shingle. Once under the shingles it can encounter the warmer temperatures emanating from the house. If the temperatures are warm enough to melt the ice, it then finds its way down the interior support beams and becomes a drip inside the house – usually through one of the can lights in the kitchen ceiling.
So, we shovel the back part of the roof so the sun can hit it and start melting the snow not picked up by the shoveling. This time of year the sun is getting high enough tat it melts off pretty quickly. I then go to the garage and get the snow rake. This is kind of like a big squeegee but made of metal. It has a 5-foot handle on it and I have three 5-foot extensions I can add to it as needed. I reach up and extend the rake as high as I can and drag the snow towards me. It falls off the roof and onto the driveway. This is continued for the length of the roof and extensions are added as I move down the driveway since the downgrade of the driveway moves me further from the apex of the roof. As soon as the snow is scraped and if the sun is out, the remaining snow immediately starts to melt with the help of the heat radiating from the shingles.
Then comes the fun part – shoveling the driveway. Some of the snow tossed from the north roof and scraped off the south roof piles up in the driveway, so not only do I get to shovel what nature deposited in the driveway, but whatever came from the roof!
This time it took about 2 1/5 hours to do all the shoveling by myself. Normally Tamara assists me and it goes quicker, but this time she opted to stay in the warm bed. It was a good workout after having the most of January off from any shoveling due to lack of snow. It appears February might make up for the deficit.
Once the lower deck is re-shoveled, I head back up to the upper deck and climb up to the north face of the roof that covers the one floor of the split level. I shovel the snow over to the south side where it will be scraped off later with a snow rake. We shovel the snow off the roof, especially the north side, to avoid ice dams. If that is not done, the damn ice can build up as a ridge on the roof and push ice back up under the shingle. Once under the shingles it can encounter the warmer temperatures emanating from the house. If the temperatures are warm enough to melt the ice, it then finds its way down the interior support beams and becomes a drip inside the house – usually through one of the can lights in the kitchen ceiling.
So, we shovel the back part of the roof so the sun can hit it and start melting the snow not picked up by the shoveling. This time of year the sun is getting high enough tat it melts off pretty quickly. I then go to the garage and get the snow rake. This is kind of like a big squeegee but made of metal. It has a 5-foot handle on it and I have three 5-foot extensions I can add to it as needed. I reach up and extend the rake as high as I can and drag the snow towards me. It falls off the roof and onto the driveway. This is continued for the length of the roof and extensions are added as I move down the driveway since the downgrade of the driveway moves me further from the apex of the roof. As soon as the snow is scraped and if the sun is out, the remaining snow immediately starts to melt with the help of the heat radiating from the shingles.
Then comes the fun part – shoveling the driveway. Some of the snow tossed from the north roof and scraped off the south roof piles up in the driveway, so not only do I get to shovel what nature deposited in the driveway, but whatever came from the roof!
This time it took about 2 1/5 hours to do all the shoveling by myself. Normally Tamara assists me and it goes quicker, but this time she opted to stay in the warm bed. It was a good workout after having the most of January off from any shoveling due to lack of snow. It appears February might make up for the deficit.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Spelling Bee
Well, even though it continued to snow throughout the day, the spelling bee went on as scheduled. Tamara and I headed over to the local school auditorium just in time to be there for the start time of 6:30. We made a stop along the way to stop at our stores to pick up some props for the event to be worn by our team – “Beer Goggles” (which are sunglasses with the eyepieces in the shape of beer mugs), beer mugs with bicycle bells attached to them (the bells are to “Ring for another Round) and can become quite obnoxious if over used, and T-Shirts with a beer theme on them. The beer props were to emphasize our team name of O’Brien’s BEErs.
When we arrived, our third team member, Brandy (Brady and Beer?), was waiting for us. We changed into our Beer regalia just as the MC for the evening was instructing everyone to take their seats so the Bee could get under way. The competition was divided into four rounds, with each round having four or five teams per round. As the rules mentioned in the previous blog entry outlined, the teams were able to consult with each other for up to 30 seconds to come up with the believed correct spelling. O’Brien’s Beer team was on the program to be in the second round – thank Gawd! At least we got to observe the first round to allow us to get a feel for the ground rules. The teams were allowed 2 misspellings before being eliminated. The first round of 5 teams were fairly good spellers, and the round went for about 45 minutes. We thought if each round went as long we would be there until midnight.
Finally the first round concluded and O’Brien’s BEErs took the position of the third team on the stage. I immediately started ringing the bell on my beer mug and acting the fool as I often do in front of a crowd. This is a carry over from when Tamara and I are involved with the Hash House Harriers (This group will be explained in a future blog). I was chastised for my behavior by Tamara because we were in the school auditorium and there were a few students in the audience. Being this was an adult event, my thoughts were that I could act like an adult – no matter how immature! Anyway, the contest commenced and it was quite fun. To our relief we were the second team eliminated and the round was soon over in a matter of about 15 minutes. We took our seats in the audience, but about half way through the third round we had seen enough and felt we had lived up to our commitment. So at the end of the third round as the new teams were taking the stage we made a hasty retreat to the back of the auditorium to make our escape through the back door.
Once outside it was evident that the wet snow that had been falling earlier had now frozen into a slick crust on the sidewalks and streets. We had to force open the doors of the Ford Expedition as the earlier melted snow has frozen in the doors’ seams. I was able to get inside one of the doors and force the others open from the inside. Ah, life in the mountains. We slowly made our way home in 4-wheel drive, but not before making a visit to the local Ouray Liquor Store and picking up a couple of six packs of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, our beer of choice since forever. We made it back home, opened up a couple of Sierras and toasted to each other for making it through the evening’s events and vowing to take a pass if asked to participate at the 3rd Annual Spelling Bee in 2010. Maybe we’ll just make a donation to the cause. It’s less time consuming, I thought to myself as I consumed the cold Sierra Nevada.
When we arrived, our third team member, Brandy (Brady and Beer?), was waiting for us. We changed into our Beer regalia just as the MC for the evening was instructing everyone to take their seats so the Bee could get under way. The competition was divided into four rounds, with each round having four or five teams per round. As the rules mentioned in the previous blog entry outlined, the teams were able to consult with each other for up to 30 seconds to come up with the believed correct spelling. O’Brien’s Beer team was on the program to be in the second round – thank Gawd! At least we got to observe the first round to allow us to get a feel for the ground rules. The teams were allowed 2 misspellings before being eliminated. The first round of 5 teams were fairly good spellers, and the round went for about 45 minutes. We thought if each round went as long we would be there until midnight.
Finally the first round concluded and O’Brien’s BEErs took the position of the third team on the stage. I immediately started ringing the bell on my beer mug and acting the fool as I often do in front of a crowd. This is a carry over from when Tamara and I are involved with the Hash House Harriers (This group will be explained in a future blog). I was chastised for my behavior by Tamara because we were in the school auditorium and there were a few students in the audience. Being this was an adult event, my thoughts were that I could act like an adult – no matter how immature! Anyway, the contest commenced and it was quite fun. To our relief we were the second team eliminated and the round was soon over in a matter of about 15 minutes. We took our seats in the audience, but about half way through the third round we had seen enough and felt we had lived up to our commitment. So at the end of the third round as the new teams were taking the stage we made a hasty retreat to the back of the auditorium to make our escape through the back door.
Once outside it was evident that the wet snow that had been falling earlier had now frozen into a slick crust on the sidewalks and streets. We had to force open the doors of the Ford Expedition as the earlier melted snow has frozen in the doors’ seams. I was able to get inside one of the doors and force the others open from the inside. Ah, life in the mountains. We slowly made our way home in 4-wheel drive, but not before making a visit to the local Ouray Liquor Store and picking up a couple of six packs of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, our beer of choice since forever. We made it back home, opened up a couple of Sierras and toasted to each other for making it through the evening’s events and vowing to take a pass if asked to participate at the 3rd Annual Spelling Bee in 2010. Maybe we’ll just make a donation to the cause. It’s less time consuming, I thought to myself as I consumed the cold Sierra Nevada.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Snow in the San Juan Mountains
Be carful what you ask for, or at least what you talk about. After saying there has been a lack of snow in 2009, it seems Mother Nature has awakened and decided to throw her blanket of snow on Ouray and the San Juan Mountains. Since my last entry it has been snowing non-stop. Not exactly blizzard conditions, but steady and heavy at times. At the time of this writing, it appears to be about 12 inches of fresh powder. The forecast it for snow to continue into tonight and then be clear tomorrow – just enough to do some serious snow shoveling before the next wave of snow is due to hit the day after tomorrow.
I really don’t mind shoveling snow. I tell myself I would rather be shoveling snow than sitting in freeway traffic in Southern California. Besides, it provides a good workout with fresh air (even though the air is a bit more rare at 7800 feet than at sea level in SoCal) and is much less expensive than joining a gym.
Tamara and I are supposed to be attending and participating in a local charity event tonight. It is a spelling bee. This spelling bee is a bit different than the traditional spelling be held for elementary students. This particular competition is broken up into teams of three. Each team is given a word to spell and then has 30 seconds to confer amongst team members before writing their answer on a white board for the judges to determine if the spelling is correct. This competition allows and encourages “cheating.” A team can buy mulligans in order to receive assistance from their “cheerleaders” in the audience. Of course, the mulligans come with a price – all of which goes toward the team’s fund that eventually goes to the charity sponsoring the event. Our team is sponsored by O’Brien’s Pub and we enjoy drinking beer, so our team name is O’Brien’s BEErs. The team name, or course, contains the word BEE in Beers. We’ll see how things turn out and keep you posted. I mentioned early that we are “supposed to be attending.” The weather may determine whether the competition will be held tonight or postponed to a future “snow date.”
I really don’t mind shoveling snow. I tell myself I would rather be shoveling snow than sitting in freeway traffic in Southern California. Besides, it provides a good workout with fresh air (even though the air is a bit more rare at 7800 feet than at sea level in SoCal) and is much less expensive than joining a gym.
Tamara and I are supposed to be attending and participating in a local charity event tonight. It is a spelling bee. This spelling bee is a bit different than the traditional spelling be held for elementary students. This particular competition is broken up into teams of three. Each team is given a word to spell and then has 30 seconds to confer amongst team members before writing their answer on a white board for the judges to determine if the spelling is correct. This competition allows and encourages “cheating.” A team can buy mulligans in order to receive assistance from their “cheerleaders” in the audience. Of course, the mulligans come with a price – all of which goes toward the team’s fund that eventually goes to the charity sponsoring the event. Our team is sponsored by O’Brien’s Pub and we enjoy drinking beer, so our team name is O’Brien’s BEErs. The team name, or course, contains the word BEE in Beers. We’ll see how things turn out and keep you posted. I mentioned early that we are “supposed to be attending.” The weather may determine whether the competition will be held tonight or postponed to a future “snow date.”
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Introduction
Hello everyone:
My name is Bruce Gulde and I am writing from beautiful Ouray, Colorado. http://www.ouraycolorado.com/
Having moved from Southern California nearly four years ago, I am in process of writing a book about the experiences of moving here and the differences of living in a sprawling metropolis region at sea level to a small town at 7800 feet in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado.
The current debate with myself is whether to pursue having the book published by the conventional means -- finding an agent to find a publisher to print and distribute the book -- or to write it in eBook form and self-publish it on the Internet. If anyone has feedback from or experience in these forms of publishing the input would be appreciated.
After a record month of December snow followed by a comparatively dry January, it has started to snow again. From the indications of the weather maps, radar images, and such, it looks as though this could be a substantial snowfall. I'll keep you posted.
My name is Bruce Gulde and I am writing from beautiful Ouray, Colorado. http://www.ouraycolorado.com/
Having moved from Southern California nearly four years ago, I am in process of writing a book about the experiences of moving here and the differences of living in a sprawling metropolis region at sea level to a small town at 7800 feet in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado.
The current debate with myself is whether to pursue having the book published by the conventional means -- finding an agent to find a publisher to print and distribute the book -- or to write it in eBook form and self-publish it on the Internet. If anyone has feedback from or experience in these forms of publishing the input would be appreciated.
After a record month of December snow followed by a comparatively dry January, it has started to snow again. From the indications of the weather maps, radar images, and such, it looks as though this could be a substantial snowfall. I'll keep you posted.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
