A Grand Experiment Comes To An End

   I started this blog because I thought it would be a cool way to both chronicle, and discuss with others, my family's relocation to Colorado from SoCal. I posted sporadically for the first few years we were here and then made a New Year's resolution at this time last year to pick up the frequency.

   Specifically, to post at least once a day the entire year.

   And I did it.

   I got almost no comments the entire way through which is fine..but a little sad, I suppose. I touched on all sorts of topics though not surprisingly, given the goings-on in 2008, I weighed in heavily on politics, most notably the presidential campaign.

   My resolution to post daily was to force me to keep a journal of sorts. I have always had a strong memory but have a history of Alzheimer's in my family and fear tremendously the possibility of a day when someone brings up something we did thirty years ago and I can't remember it.

   So a journal has always appealed to me.

   However, it is exhausting feeling obligated to blog every single day. So that is going to end for now. Instead, when I see something compelling, whether it be serious or seriously funny, I will drop a line or 75 here and we'll go from there.

   Take care of yourselves, particularly in this challenging time we're living in right now. I hope your 2009 is a prosperous year!

Nothing Screams White Trash More Than

   a rageddy mullet and a sloppy mustache. I see this ensemble and immediately think white trash.

   However, if there was a competition held between two equally disheveled gents with equivalent coifs and upper lip decorations, the edge definitely goes to the guy that emerges from a ratty El Camino!!

   Maybe it shows my age (mid 30s) but damnit - I cannot imagine going into a new car dealership and saying "Gee whiz, honey, look at that new El Camino - I can't imagine being fortunate enough to drive one of those beauties off the lot!"

   But it must have happened..How else would enough of them have gotten into circulation for them to trickle their way down to becoming to white trash what the K car was to 80's federal government workers?!

80 MPH Gusts - A Nice Gentle Breeze

   I know the winter can be rough for us but damnit, we've just had brutal wind this season.

   Our neighbor's play structure, anchored with concrete footings, blew over!

   I NEED TO GET A DAMN WIND TURBINE INSTALLED and make some money on at least some of the inconvenience we face when we can't sleep due to high winds all night!

I Love A Good Headline!!

   In the wake of the Chargers' thumping of the Broncos for all the marbles in the AFC Worst last night, the Denver Post was full of classic headlines this morning.

   My two favorites have to be "Out Rout" and "Season's Beating" - the latter being priceless IMHO!

How The (AFC) West Was Won

   In a serious ass-kicking, is how.

   Kickers - the San Diego Chargers. Kickees - the Denver Broncos.

   Thank goodness the Ed Hochuli debacle in Week 2 of the season was
not the deciding factor here, though technically, if I'm being a greedy Bolts fan, if he'd gotten that call right, the Chargers would have won the division following Denver's loss to Buffalo last week, rendering this game meaningless.

   I guess, considering I'm happy with the outcome, I should be happy for the league and the fans that we got a little drama in the last game of the regular season.

A New Form Of Fuel?!

   There really is no end to the gems that George Carlin created prior to his untimely death earlier this year.

   Here's a great one I saw in the "Thoughts On The Business Of Life" back page of Forbes' "Energy + Genius" special issue:

      "Energy experts have announced the development of a new fuel
       made from human brain tissue. It's called assohol."

Hard To Believe

   ..though I'd love to.

   According to Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, interviewed in U.S. News & World Report, the soda giant has pledged that by 2010 half of the company's U.S. revenue will come from healthy foods.

   Call me a skeptic, but I have a hard time envisioning Pepsi weaning itself off the sticky stuff.

Merry Christmas!!

   To those of you that celebrate it, Merry Christmas!

   Whatever you celebrate (or don't), I hope you are having an opportunity to spend time with those you love!

I'm All For It If This Means Less Shouting!

   Catching up on the intimidating tower of periodicals in my office at home, now that I'm on vacation, I came across this which strikes me as something we should all propagate!

A Half-Day Before Vacation

   is always tough.

   A half-day, when you have to physically be in the office because of a stringent (and ridiculous) work-at-home prohibition, and you and the janitorial staff are the only souls in the building, is even more difficult.

   Thankfully it is over now. Nine days away from work can officially begin now.

Ahh..The Union..

   I love the union guys that work in the building I work in. Some of them are so pro-union that they won't even say hi to you (or make eye contact, for that matter) if they know you're not a member.

   Let me guess - these guys got beat up a lot in school and now want to get back at stand-ins for those that slighted them back in the day by ignoring anyone that is not in their little club now.

   Like I've said, Bush, Obama, and any of the members of Congress that voted to bailout the Big Three should be ashamed of themselves. Mostly Bush, since he decided that since Congress wouldn'tdo it, he'd bail the automakers out as one of his parting gifts to America.

   Go clear brush already!!

Never Say Die!

   So as you might have surmised, I've been catching up on Newsweek back issues.

   In the 12/15/2008 issue, I saw something that renewed my interest in taking care of myself so I live past 40.

   "Martha Naylor, 99, mows her own lawn"!!!

   Awesome!

Steve Tuttle Is My New Favorite Newsweek Columnist

   Steve Tuttle is my new favorite Newsweek columnist. The first article I noticed by him was on the hideous, locally-produced footwear phenomenon, Crocs. His latest effort is just as funny!

This Scumbag Is Seriously Deranged!

   "Blago" is nuts.

Un-Fucking-Believable

   Un-fucking-believable.

   That shithead lame duck president of ours has just bailed out the old-thinking, union-sympathizing, American Big Three automakers. Nice work, Dubya.

All I Want For Christmas..Is A Space Shuttle

   It is awesome that the shuttles are going to be on display, whether they end up fetching $42M a piece privately or are just donated to worthy museums.

Our Senior Senator From The Great State of Colorado

   ..has not even taken office!

   Due to President-elect Obama's selection of Sen. Ken Salazar as his Interior Secretary designate, Mark Udall (my Representative here in the Colorado's 2nd district), just elected a month and change back, will be the senior senator, with only weeks or so of seniority over whoever Gov. Bill Ritter selects to succeed Salazar.

   I am hoping he picks Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper - a guy with an awesome name and a background in brewing!!

The Bitter Cold

   It has been REALLY cold this past week or so here in the Denver Metro area.

   We're talking -10F at 9AM here.

   I've finally thawed out enough to revisit it..We are due for more in the coming winds due to Arctic winds blowing through. We've had a little bit of snow but not a ton.

   Hopefully we'll have another white Christmas!

Uhh..Shopping In The Dark Is A Bit Difficult!

   The power went out completely three times in the hour or so I was in King Soopers tonight grocery shopping. It was blamed on the frigid temperatures outside wreaking havoc on the electrical system in the area.

   Fortunately the store has gas generators to provide basic lighting and run a few registers but all the coolers were off and the crew in the store was counting down the minutes until they'd have to start dumping food.

   Hopefully the power was restored before they had to take that kind of drastic action!

Don't Let Your Kids Grow Up To Be

   Cube Dwellers.

   I hate the cycle - you grow up learning, from observing your parents, that you want to be different; you want to chart a new course for your life instead of merely going to college, getting a stable job, getting married, having kids..and...turning into your parents.

   Though I hope, as I'm sure my parents and your parents did, that my kids will not aim to be everything I'm not, my message to my kids during their formative years, will be different.

   I am going to wholeheartedly encourage them to pursue their passions. They will be advised by me to NOT take a "safe job" (as if those exist anymore, anyway), but to take an exciting one. It is a lot easier to live with no money and do something you are invigorated by than to chase the (formerly) almighty dollar and then get so accustomed to a lifestyle that you are forced to stay in something that bores you to tears just to continue to make X dollars a year.

   I am going to implore my kids to pursue their interests and not worry about money when they are first getting started..

A Retro Theatre Experience

   On a popular podcast I was listening to today, the hosts were reminiscing about the good old days of drive-in theaters.

   I think I only ever went to see a movie at a drive-in once. I can't recall what was playing but my brother and I were both young and our parents were still married so it must have been the early '80s. I remember walking to the snack bar and back and thinking that the whole scene, with all the cars and the two giant screens, was pretty spectacular.

   The two drive-ins we had in the town I grew up in are both long shut down. One quickly became a swap meet and the other remained a place where miscreant teenagers with beater cars would go "jumping."

   A quick look on Google Maps shows that at least pieces of both remain today. The swap meet one looks to have been taken over by the neighboring auto junkyard, though it looks like one of its two screens might still exist, and the other appears to be used as a parking lot for something..I'll have to investigate a bit in a few months when I head out that way.

   Wouldn't it be awesome if someone opened a new one just for the hell of it?

Celebutard

   I heard this on this past weekend's episode of Five Hundy By Midnight and laughed out loud. I do feel a bit bad, though, for the retarded community as they should never be compared to the kind of celebrities for which this term was coined.

Some Senators Apparently Have Backbones!

   Hooray is all I can say on this.

   Let those piss-poorly run businesses fail.

Election Reflection..A Couple Of Odd Similarities

   Both President-Elect Obama and Sen. McCain are left-handed, a strange statistical oddity that I noticed during their first debate.

   But perhaps stranger is that both were born outside of the continental United States (Hawaii and Panama Canal Zone, respectively) - interesting since being a natural born citizen is a prerequisite to being eligible for election to the office of President.

Just What Illinois Needs..More Shady Politicians

   What's this make? Governor Scumbag number two-in-a-row? Or are they up to three now?! Incredible.

A Lovely Parting Gift

   Unfortunately the gift of which I speak was generated by an anonymous coworker parting their cheeks and leaving me a rather fragrant fart for me to enjoy on my elevator ride down to the ground floor on my way out the door from work this evening.

   Could you please hold it until you're outside at least? I know dropping it outside when it is snowy and sub-30F and therefore would likely cause a large vapor cloud to encircle you, is probably what you were attempting to avoid at all costs, but please have the courtesy to spare the air on the vator!

A Little Parking Lot Courtesy

   Dear King Soopers shopper,

      Would it kill you to push your empty shopping cart ten feet from your car to the designated cart return area when you're done with it?

      Apparently this is asking for a tremendous effort on your part as not only did you feel it necessary to leave your cart two inches off my bumper but you also inspired others to follow your example.

      Next time you find yourself in a similar situation would you please extinguish your cancer stick, set down the slim jim you're stuffing down your piehole, and put your shopping cart back where it fucking belongs?!

      Thanks much,
         A fellow shopper

I Want To Brew!

   After a trip to the Mile High Monks' monthly meeting tonight, cut short by work obligations, I am super-fired up to brew another batch of homebrew.

   I think it is going to be another round of the brown ale that was such a hit last time.

Friday Night Code Monkey

   My Mountain Dew IV drip is all set to go and so am I as I code like a freaking beast tonight. Side projects are keeping me mentally stimulated with work dragging a bit as of late.

To Throw Or Shovel..That Is The Question

   Uhhh..even with a south-facing driveway if you get enough snow it WILL stick!

   So I was faced with a dilemma this morning - whether the snow level on the driveway constituted firing up the snowthrower for its first action of the season.

   I opted to just shovel as we only had an inch or so.

   But we have a ton of snow forecast next week so I think the thrower will be getting the call very soon!

Another Snowy Night!

   I love this weather cycle we've been having here in the last week - one day of snow, one day to melt, an unseasonably warm day, and then repeat!

   And what is even sweeter? A south-facing driveway! (Those of you that live in snowy climates know what this means!)

Palin Effect?!

   Could it possibly be that 2012 Republican presidential candidate Sarah Palin's presence on the campaign trail, on behalf of Sen. Saxby Chambliss, got him over the hump and into the winner's circle?!

Gots To Build A Wind Turbine!

   After a night of horrific wind, that kept the whole family awake, tossing and turning, it is clear to me that I need to get off my ass and build or buy a wind turbine. Otherwise I will continue to hear the wind howl as I lay in bed and imagine bushels of dollar bills blowing through the backyard and down the hill!