Sleepless in Gunnison

It turns out I missed a very busy day at work on Monday, and the summer grind of dealing with unpleasant, unreasonable customers has already started. Most of the people we deal with range from nice to slightly sullen. Then there are those at either end of the spectrum. Of course we all love the […]

Travels with TL: Interstate Damnation

Alphabetically, getting from Arvada to Aurora is not that far. In terms of culture, temperament and ethnicity, there’s a vast gulf between the two. And, in the measurement that matters most to me, distance, they are at opposite ends of the top of the Greater Denver Metro Area. Both my sisters and my mom live […]

Short News

I have one hour before Planned Departure Time, and I’m still not packed, nor have I typed instructions for cat feeders, so this is going to be short. But I didn’t want you all to be bereft of my presence. Yes, it’s true: for the second time in a single month, I am hitting the […]

Pretty Pink

Since it’s the penultimate day of this year’s Giro d’Italia, I thought I would focus foremost on bicycle racing this morning, even though it might be my 200th day of blogging. It might not — I’ve lost track of the small number of “updates” I’ve added post-post. This is post #205, at any rate. [In […]

Snappy Decisions

Do you know how many people have told Lynn and I, during this house-building process, about how building a house leads to divorce? Well, I don’t have an exact head-count either, but it’s been a lot. A lot. No, I don’t have any startling announcement to make, but I would say the tension is at […]

Ghost Stories

When we were little, pre-school, Terri and I got our first lunchboxes. The choices must have been limited, because our parents came home with Casper the Friendly Ghost and — this is true — Soupy Sales. As the oldest, I thoughtfully and considerately reviewed the choices — yeah right. I went straight for Casper. I […]

All Hands On Deck

Nothing — and I mean nothing — about having a house built is simple. Even things that sound and seem innocuous. Don’t believe me? (Or maybe you do. Play along anyway.) Examples abound. Flooring. When I spoke with Cynthia from Green Building Supply, the oak hardwood she assured me was sustainable was supposed to be […]

Weathered

I got early photojournalistic evidence, because I knew it wouldn’t last, but the snow disregarded the 9,000-foot edict overnight to come creeping down to us here at 7,703 feet. It is May 28, one day past Memorial Day, a mere handful of days away from June, and we are still getting snowed on. I am […]

War and Remembrance

It’s Memorial Day, and I should make at least some attempt to discuss something other than myself, but here is the problem: there is a large disconnect between my life and what Memorial Day stands for. Because we — and by we, I pretty much mean “every person on the planet” — argue over everything […]

Math is Hard

Math is what I am all about these days, only I can’t get most of it to work out. It could be that I’m math-impaired — or it could be that it’s a less precise science than we were all led to believe. There’s square footage math, which we’ve covered (and probably will again, just […]