It's New Year's Eve!

It's New Year's Eve!  Time to celebrate the end of 2019 and welcome in 2020.  And to celebrate this holiday, I am once again featuring the photograph of my mother Mary (on the left) and her cousin Marie (on the right) celebrating New Year's Eve many a year ago.  My mother and Marie were very close, and in fact, Marie and her husband Ed introduced my mother and father Nelson to each other.  Sadly, Marie died quite young from cancer, and that is a lesson to all of us to live life to the fullest while we can.  Like tonight! Happy New Year Everyone!

The Dave Barry 2019 Year In Review Is Here!

The Dave Barry 2019 Year In Review has arrived at last.  This is an annual month by month review by humorist Dave Barry of the major events that occurred in 2019, told in his inimitable style.  Barry stopped writing his weekly column for the Miami Herald years ago, and so it is a treat when one of his infrequent articles appears in the newspaper.  In addition to this laugh out loud review, he also writes an annual Christmas gift guide, and usually attends and reports on events such as the Olympics and the Republican and Democratic political conventions.  Hopefully he will continue this tradition next year.  Be sure to read  his 2019 review at https://www.miamiherald.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/dave-barry/article238523668.html. And by the way, I took the above photograph of Dave Barry back in 2016 at Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore, when he was promoting his book Best State Ever: A Florida Man Defends His Homeland.  And yes - in a weak moment, I actually did buy a copy of that book and had Barry sign it for me.  He even let me take his photograph.  What a guy!

Waiting For The 2020 CTA Historical Calendar

It is only days until the new year, which means the CTA 2020 Historical Calendar will soon be here.  This is an online calendar put out by the Chicago Transit Authority and filled with historic photographs of Chicago and it's various modes of public transportation, such as the one above.  And no, that is NOT a photograph of me, with a mustache and bowler hat, standing on the platform of that south side Chicago rapid transit train. I was still just a baby when that photograph was taken. The beauty of this calendar is that you can download it onto your computer for free, and if you want, print out each month and put it up on your wall, your refrigerator, your jail cell, etc.  Be sure to check out the CTA's website at https://www.transitchicago.com/historicalcalendar/ and download the 2020 calendar when it arrives.  And by the way, just because both yesterday and today's blogs are about calendars, I am not obsessed with them. Or time. Or the passing of years. I think.

Rick Steves Now Has Calendars!

In a rare bit of luck, this past Thursday I found a copy of Rick Steves' Picture A Day Wall Calendar on sale for half price at Barnes and Noble. Up until now, I didn't even know Rick Steves produced a calendar, most likely because I only buy calendars after Christmas, when they go on sale and the supply is limited.  I also found out that Rick has a Rick Steves' Page-A-Day Desk Calendar, too. Yesterday, as soon as I found this out, I went back to Barnes and Noble to see if they also had the desk calendar, and they did!  The last one, as a matter of fact, and also half price.  It's a Christmas miracle! Rick is my travel hero, even though Doug, my friend and former University of Denver Bookstore colleague, calls him "the Lawrence Welk of travel," and I don't think he means that as a compliment.  I do have to admit that the two times I have seen Rick in person, the audience was mostly my age or older, but who cares?  I used to watch his travel program on PBS, but since it is now on only in the afternoon here in Denver, I go online to his web site and watch the shows there.  If you haven't tried this yet, be sure to check it out at https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show.  And if you want one of those Rick Steves calendars, they are available for half price on his website, too. As Rick says, see you in Europe!

A Boxing Day Walk Down 17th Street

The day after Christmas (Boxing Day) was sunny and in the 40s here in Denver, and so I decided to forgo searching the stores for after Christmas bargains, and instead once again walked down 17th Street from the Tattered Cover Bookstore - where I once worked as the bookkeeper - to Union Station and the light rail train home.  This was once considered a sketchy area, but is now a haven for hipsters, with many restaurants, bars, and both old and new apartments and homes, such as the 19th century row houses seen in the photograph on the left.

I think my favorite building on this street is the Dow-Rosenzweig House, built in 1882 by carpenter Charles L. Dow, and then occupied by members of the Leopold Rosenzweig family from 1888 until 1970.  It is a beautiful Italianate structure, as seen in the photograph on the right, and is now occupied by a law firm.  Just for fun, I checked it's history on the internet, and found nothing more than the few details mentioned here.  I then checked my copy of historian Tom Noel's Buildings of Colorado, and the only additional information I found was the name of the man who restored it and turned it into an office complex.  No stories of murder, ghosts, scandals, or anything untoward.  How incredibly boring.  You would think that a building almost 140 years old would have some kind of legend attached to it. All I can say is those Rosenzweig's must have been a pretty dull bunch.

A few blocks from the 16th Street Mall and the downtown area, the street gives way to high rises, a number of which I have recently featured on this blog.  Just beyond this point, 17th Street functions as Denver's financial district.  Most of the banks on this street are now very large national and multinational corporations, such as UMB Bank, seen in the photograph on the left.  This reminds me that when I first moved to Denver, I opened an account at University National Bank, a local operation just across the street from the University Hills Mall, where I managed the Hatch's Bookstore located there.  Over time it was absorbed by larger and larger banks, eventually being taken over by the second largest bank in the country, which wound up having to apologize for accepting slaves as collateral and actually owning slaves as a result.  I think they eliminated this practice a few years ago, but you never know.  Perhaps we should google it.

Boxing Day!

Today is Boxing Day, the day when servants are given gifts and the day off from their employers, rewarding them for their faithful service, especially on Christmas Day, when they have to work serving their masters. Boxing Day is, in fact, an official holiday in the UK and the rest of the British Commonwealth.  I myself had no idea how many families in those countries still have such a large staff of servants that they need an official holiday to celebrate this event. I guess that Downton Abbey, the wildly successful PBS series, is not an exception, but the rule in the UK and it's former colonies.  Makes me wonder if we shouldn't have stuck with Great Britain after all. Our branch of the Hoyt family, by the way, were Tories, as was explained to my cousin Kathy, as she was unceremoniously thrown out of the Office of the Daughters of the American Revolution when she tried to join that organization.  Some people just never get over things like that.  What can I say?  And by the way, the photograph above is a still shot from the new Downton Abbey movie that I downloaded off the internet.  I did not, sadly enough, travel there over the holidays to take that photo.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas to one and all.  In celebration of this holy day, I am featuring a photograph of my mother Mary standing in front of my sister Susan and brother-in-law George's dining room table, in Fort Collins, Colorado, just before Christmas dinner was served.  I think the photograph was taken around the year 2000, but can't be sure.  All I remember is that it was a happy time for us, all together for the holidays. Now, of course, it is just Susan and myself, but we feel blessed to still have each other.  I wish everyone a very happy holiday, and hope you are all able to celebrate this day with family and friends.

Waiting For The Three Spirits To Visit

Today is Christmas Eve, and for the past few Christmas Eves, I have been visited by three spirits trying to get me to change my curmudgeonly ways. I am sure they will try again this year, too.  They never give up, damn it. The photograph above, of myself and Marley, was taken last year, when he came to let me know that those three spirits were coming to visit once again.  And I have to add that Marley, a former Assistant Chancellor at the University of Denver, was always a good man of business, as was I.  In other words, another hellish night awaits.

Sunday Morning With Mark And The Tottenham Fan Club

My friend Mark (seen in the photograph on the left) and I went over to Esters - a local pizza place here in south central Denver - Sunday morning to watch a soccer match between Tottenham and Chelsea with the Colorado Spurs, the local Tottenham fan club.  We were a little late getting there, and by the time we arrived, the room where the fan club sat was packed. Mark and I were forced to sit in the main bar area with the rest of the overflow crowd.  Both Tottenham and Chelsea are London teams, and fierce rivals, which I imagine is why it was so crowded.  Sadly, Tottenham lost to Chelsea 2-0. Afterwards, we talked to Prudence, the president of the club, and she mentioned that the next meet up would be at 5:30 A.M. and be a much more intimate gathering, perhaps just 20 or 30 people crowding around the bar.  I imagine many of them will probably be sleeping around the bar, too.  Count me out for that one - you're on your own, Mark.

Kaos During The Holidays

I passed Kaos, my favorite pizza parlor/beer garden the other day on a walk down Denver's Old South Pearl Street, and saw that they were decorated for the holidays.  However, I did not see anybody outside in the garden having a nice cold pint.  During the summer the place is always crowded, but even I draw the line at drinking cold beer outside in freezing temperatures.  It is open all year round, but is really an outdoor kind of place.  It does have an inside dining room, but it seems a bit cramped inside that 100 year old cottage. On the other hand, since the place does have the cheapest happy hour in town, perhaps it should instead just be considered cozy.  I like cozy.  I also like cheap.

It's The Winter Solstice! Know Any Good Druid Bars?

Tonight at 9:19 P.M. (Mountain Standard Time) is the 2019 Winter Solstice. Just for fun, I went on the internet the other day to see if there were any Winter Solstice events taking place here in Denver, and was surprised to find that there were - in fact, a lot.  These include events sponsored by yoga and meditation centers, ticketed music and dance venues, and one event - at Apothecary Tinctura - that will celebrate ancient Irish traditions, with people gathering in a circle and participating in a winter solstice ritual. That's just a little too New Agey for me. Therefore, I decided to also google "Druid bars,"  but nothing came up. Perhaps they just don't like to advertise, most likely because the evening might involve human sacrifices. However, if I were to pick out a place that would make a good Druid bar, it would be Williams and Graham (see above), located in the Lower Highlands neighborhood.  Not only does it look to me like there are a lot of pagans hanging out in that particular neighborhood, but the atmosphere of Williams and Graham is perfect for a Druid hangout.  It appears to be a bookstore at ground level, but there is a fake bookcase that opens to a stairwell leading down to the basement, where there is a speakeasy.  What a perfect place for Druid related activities.  This bar actually has a national reputation for it's "handcrafted cocktails and small plates," which to me means pricey, and so I strongly recommend it only to Druids with deep pockets.  That is coming from my inner cheapskate.

The Christmas Tree Is Up At Last!

I put up my Christmas tree the other night for only the second time in 10 years.  As everyone knows, I am the embodiment of Christmas cheer, outdoing even old Fezziwig of Charles Dickens fame, but since I stopped hosting Christmas dinner from 2009 until last year, I decided to skip putting up the tree during that time.  I had bought it many years ago in a wild moment of Christmas cheer.  It was not all that expensive, as I recall, and not that fancy.  But still, it looks very pretty at night, and after Epiphany, on January 6th, I am always reluctant to take it down.  And not just because it is a damn hassle to do so. And by the way, keep in mind that I am the embodiment of Christmas cheer, and so I can say curmudgeonly things like that whenever I want.  I have that in writing.

Burgers And Beers With Stuart At BJ's

I had burgers and beers with my friend Stuart (seen in the above photograph) last night at BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse in beautiful, exotic Lakewood, Colorado (where Jack Kerouc once owned a house, until he suddenly realized it was in Lakewood).  BJ's, a chain based out of Huntington Beach, California, opened it's first location in Colorado on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall, and I remember dining there several times with family and friends. Eventually, it moved to a larger space on the east side of town, and later expanded to Fort Collins, Aurora, various other locations in Colorado, and just last month, Lakewood.  The food was excellent, and the service very good, and so I am hesitant to make any criticisms, but will anyway.  For one thing, the beer is pretty pricey (the cheapest in-house brew was $6.50), and I am not convinced I was getting a full pint, either, since it didn't look like it, and unlike other restaurants, the size of the beers was not listed on the menu.  Plus, we overhead another server say that there was no happy hour, although I found out later that there is indeed a happy hour, but only in the bar area. But no matter - now we know, and next time we will certainly belly up to the bar for our food and happy hour drinks.  If ever.

Christmas Is Just One Week Away!

Hard to believe, but Christmas is just one week from today.  In other words, it is almost time to start your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or other holiday shopping pretty damn soon.  I myself am a firm believer in waiting until the last minute to buy gifts.  For one thing, you are much more motivated to get it done if you have only a few days left.  And more importantly, you can delay your credit card bills coming due until February.  Talk about win-win.  In any case, the photograph on the left is the one I put on my Christmas cards this year.  From left to right are my brother-in-law George, sister Susan, and mother Mary in a photo taken in Susan and George's Fort Collins, Colorado condo back around the year 2000 or so. The photo of my father Nelson (holding our dog Irma) was taken around Christmas of 1964, and along with a recent photograph of me, was photo-shopped into this family masterpiece.  Sadly, only my sister Susan and I are left, but we will always have these happy holiday memories.  And why do I send these family oriented cards out? The main reason, of course, is to wish friends and relatives a very Merry Christmas, along with a very subtle underlying message, which is: "Yes. I am still here. And yes, I am still crazy. And I have all of your addresses." That is just the kind of sentimental fool I am.

Deep Dive

I recently finished reading Deep Dive, Chris Knopf's latest Sam Acquillo mystery.  And I must say, this is a really good series that seems to fly under the radar of most people.  It takes place in the Hamptons, on the east end of Long Island, and so maybe it is more popular there, but who knows?  The story revolves around a former corporation big shot whose life falls apart, and afterwards moves back to the small cottage on Little Peconic Bay in the Hamptons his parents left him, where he rebuilds his life as a carpenter and part-time private eye.  This time one of his best friends, a billionaire no less, is accused of murder, and he and his attorney friend Jackie start working to prove him innocent.  This story is just as good as his others, and I strongly recommend any book in this series.  And the beauty of it is - since the series is not that popular - you can pick up a copy of this latest book at your local library without having to put your name on a waiting list.  Talk about win win!

The December Mutt Of The Month

I passed this month's mutt of the month sitting in the front yard of a house I passed on one of my walks along Old South Pearl Street here in Denver.  It appears to be an old dog, just enjoying being outside during a mild spell of weather.  In other words, a fellow senior citizen.

When I got to Washington Park, it seemed to me that everybody there was walking a dog, often more than one.  It is almost as if there is a Denver city ordinance requiring everyone to own at least one, and preferably more than one, dog.  This is in contrast to Stuart, Florida, where virtually every condo complex in the area bans dogs from their premises.  Why is that? What makes Florida so pet unfriendly? Why deny people - especially the elderly - from having a dog or cat or possibly even a kangroo as a companion?  Beats the hell out of me.

Famous And Infamous Sights Along 17th Street

As I have mentioned before on this blog, I sometimes take a walk down 17th Street here in Denver from the Tattered Cover Bookstore, where I used to work as the bookkeeper, to Union Station, where I take the light rail train home.  It is a lively street, with plenty of restaurants (it is known locally as restaurant row), and has lots of interesting sights.  Close to downtown is the Mile High Center, seen in the foreground of the photograph on the left, with the Wells Fargo Center (nicknamed the Cash Register Building because of the shape of it's roof) in the background.  The I.M. Pei designed Mile High Center was built in 1954, while the Wells Fargo Center was built in 1983 and designed by Phillip Johnson - no slouch of an architect himself - under a master plan by Pei. Denver's 16th Street Mall was also designed by I.M. Pei, I might add, proving that Denver does have some architectural gems.  The Wells Fargo Building, then known as the United Bank Center (which to me looks like a giant mail box, actually), was the site of the Father's Day Bank Massacre back in 1991, when 4 unarmed bank guards were killed execution style during a robbery.

Just across the street is the Brown Palace Hotel, as seen in the photograph on the right.  It was designed by well known Denver architect Frank E. Edbrooke, and opened for business in 1892.  The Brown Palace was the site of an infamous double murder back in 1911, detailed in the book Murder at the Brown Palace, written by former Denver Post newspaper columnist Dick Kreck. When I worked at the Tattered Cover, we used to sell dozens of copies of that book to the hotel, which resold them to guests wanting to know about that sordid affair.  The place is reputed to be haunted, too.  What I want to know is whether they charge more for rooms that are haunted? Why am I so convinced that the answer to that question is a resounding yes?  How did I ever become such a cynic?

Eight Weeks Until Spring Training!

Hard to believe, but true - baseball spring training begins in only 8 weeks.  Pitchers and catchers report the week of February 10th, the rest of the team a week later, and my south side heros, the Chicago White Sox, are predicted to be a contender, after years of rebuilding.  And in honor of this truly stunning turn of events, I am once again featuring the photograph of legendary White Sox and Cubs television and radio broadcaster Harry Caray in front of the Comiskey Park scoreboard.  It is a composite of two photographs I took at the ballpark back in 1980, the year before I moved from Chicago to Denver.  And - I might add - thanks to a subscription to MLB.com, last year I watched the most White Sox games since that 1980 season.  That was when I finally broke down and bought an annual subscription to that online service, thanks to Denver's near-do-well baseball team, the Colorado Rockies.  For years I faithfully bought Colorado Rockies opening day tickets.  However, prices for that game went up dramatically thanks to the concept of "dynamic pricing," where the cost to buy a ticket changes based on demand.  It finally got to the point where an opening day ticket for the worst seat at Coors Field cost more than a one year subscription to MLB.com.  You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out which is the better deal.  Thanks, Colorado Rockies, for guiding me back to my south side Chicago roots!

Christmas Nostalgia

Lately I have been contemplating going into my storage locker, getting the artificial Christmas tree and boxes of lights and ornaments, and beginning the task of putting it up.  Last year was the first time I have done that in many years, and since I am having guests over again this Christmas Day, thought it might nice to give the place a little holiday cheer.  And then next week, I will have to help put up my sister Susan's tree at her townhouse in Fort Collins. Having at some point turned into a curmudgeon, I look upon these tasks as chores, but years ago I used to love having a Christmas tree, and would cheerfully sit by it for hours, all lite up in the dark (the tree - not me). As proof of this, I present the photograph above of me in our home in the south side Brainerd of Chicago, back when I truly did have the Christmas spirit.  And yes, that is indeed a plastic slip cover on the chair.  I wonder why that quaint custom ever went out of style?

The Christmas Markets Are Back!

I walked from the Tattered Cover Bookstore on East Colfax Avenue to Denver's Union Station - and the light rail train home - yesterday afternoon, and along the way walked through two of Denver's Christmas markets.  The first one was the Christkindl Market, seen in the photograph on the left, which has been an annual event here in Denver for years, but which I have never before explored.  It is modeled after the Christmas markets in Germany, and has shops selling gifts, ornaments, and a variety of foods.  Plus, it even has an enclosed beer garden, which at 4:25 P.M. on a Wednesday afternoon was already doing a brisk business.

I then walked over to Larimer Square, an historic late 1800s era block that was saved from the wrecking ball by Dana Crawford during the urban renewal madness of the 1960s.  I was surprised to find that the street was blocked off and that still another holiday market was set up, as seen in the photograph on the right. The entire block was filled with booths selling various gift items, and in the center was - get ready for this - still another enclosed beer garden, this one operated by the Denver Beer Company and featuring a stage with a group singing Christmas carols.  Are you beginning to see a pattern here?  I suspect that Denver - promoting it's reputation as one of the microbrewery capitols of the world - has added a few New World tweaks to an Old World tradition. Me thinks.

The New Girl

I just finished reading The New Girl, Daniel Silva's latest Gabriel Allon thriller, and it is just as excellent a read as all the other books in the series.  I think Silva is the best suspense writer in the business, and his stories always put you on the edge of your seat.  This time, the daughter of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia is kidnapped from an exclusive private school in Switzerland, and Allon, chief of Israeli intelligence, is asked to find her. This is one very popular series.  I was on the waiting list at the library for this book for something like 3 months, but it was well worth it.  I strongly recommend that you, too, put your name in for The New Girl at your local library, or else purchase a copy for someone as a Christmas gift, and then make sure you read it before wrapping it up.  And I also advise not eating or drinking anything while reading it, either.  I speak from experience.

Ice Skating In Skyline Park

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, I went down to Denver's 16th Street Mall Saturday night to take a few photographs of the Parade of Lights, and as I was fleeing the roughly 500,000 parade goers watching it, I discovered that some people were actually ice skating at the Skyline Park Ice Rink, instead of attending that parade. They mostly had the place to themselves, since getting downtown that night was a nightmare.  I myself have never been an ice skater, since it is a sport that by necessity takes place when it is cold as hell outside.  And I sure don't want to take it up now, since I would almost immediately break my leg, and my health provider would shoot me (I have Kaiser, an HMO, and they keep costs low using innovative techniques).  Best staying warm and alive has always been my motto.

Denver's Parade Of Lights

I took the light rail train down to the 16th Street Mall Saturday night to take a few photographs at Denver's annual Parade of Lights.  Unlike most years, the evening was rather mild, and the train was standing room only, filled with parents and their children, as well as various hipsters and senior citizens, such as myself. When I arrived downtown, the crowd along the parade route was pretty thick, and so I had the choice of either bullying my way to the front of the line or taking photos from the back.  I choose the latter option - I feel it is unseemly to get into brawls at a Christmas parade.  Just call me a sentimental fool. And, I might add, the place where I took the above photograph was next to the entrance of a 7-Eleven convenience store, where I was pushed and bumped into more times than ever before in my lifetime.  Not only did that make me surly, it made me want to buy shares in 7-Eleven stock.  My God, how many people can fit into that small space at the same time?  I might be a curmudgeon, but I know a money maker when I see one.  Happy holidays, by the way.

Watching Leeds Play Huddersfield With Mark

I watched Leeds United play Huddersfield with my friend Mark (seen in the photograph on the left, wearing his Leeds soccer shirt) yesterday afternoon.  The game started at 7:00 A.M. Denver time, but fortunately, Mark was able to record it so that we could watch it at a more reasonable hour. Leeds won the game 2 to nil, as the Brits say, and finds itself solidly in first place. Mark has a lot of friends in Leeds, many of them avid soccer fans, and so he, and they, are all excited about the team's chances this year.  However, I get the feeling that Leeds is kind of like soccer's version of the Chicago Cubs  - the old Cubs, anyway - and still have half the season to blow it all. I'm just giving you a reality check, guys.  And by the way, until yesterday I had never heard of Huddersfield, located 14 miles southwest of Leeds.  But thanks to an internet search, I did learn what Huddersfield is famous for:  rugby, and being the birthplace of film star James Mason.  Good to know.

Lunching With Peter At The Goods

I had lunch yesterday afternoon with Peter - my former Tattered Cover office mate - at The Goods, the restaurant located just next door to that East Colfax Avenue Denver bookstore.  The Goods advertises their hamburger as the best in the entire world, and I decided to order it based on that claim.  I have asked them several times what organization actually designated that burger as the world's best, but have not been able to get a straight answer.  Although I now live in Denver, I originally came from the south side of Chicago, and  I still believe that the White Castle cheeseburger actually holds that title (just make sure you order five or six of them to properly fill up). And as you can see, I am still using an old photograph of Peter that I took a few years back.  He refuses to let me take his photo any more.  I suspect Peter has entered the witness protection program  for some unknown reason. Amazingly enough, a great many people I know refuse to have their photographs put on this blog because they are also in the witness protection program.  They wouldn't lie to me, would they?  Certainly not!

Back To Some Good Old Fashioned Florida Nostalgia

It has been a tough winter here in Colorado, and in case you haven't noticed, it is still fall.  It makes me nostalgic for my sister Susan's and my condo in Stuart, Florida, inherited from our parents, which we are currently renting out to help pay the expenses. I am still debating whether I could afford not to rent it, and still keep my condo here in Denver - an exercise that really makes my brain hurt. In any case, I recently ran across the photograph on the left of my ex-wife Lisa, father Nelson, and mother Mary, taken in front of a restaurant called The Admiral's Table, which was located across the street from the Indian River in nearby Jensen Beach. They had a great salad and soup bar there, with the best clam chowder I have ever tasted.  Sadly, it was destroyed after hurricanes Frances and Jeanne hit Stuart back in 2004.  In any case, I took the photo in August of 1983, one of the last I ever took of my father, who passed away the following November.

On the same trip, Lisa took the photograph of me on the right at Stuart Beach, holding up a bag of shells. My sister Susan was also a connoisseur of shells, and wound up collecting three or four grocery store bags full of them from the St. Lucie River next to our condo, storing them in the utility room of my mother's building.  The next time I came down to Stuart from Denver, my mother had me return them all to the river, to my sister's chagrin.  I also threw away her boogie board before we rented the place out, which she also wasn't happy about.  I simply consider it an example of "tough love."

Travel By Train

Denver's Union Station, in addition to being a haven for hipsters - with bars, restaurants, shops, and even a branch of the Tattered Cover Bookstore - is the city's transportation hub, with a bus depot underground and light rail trains above.  There are also two Amtrak trains a day that stop there - one in the morning heading west from Chicago to San Francisco, and one in the evening, heading from San Francisco to Chicago.  The trains are scheduled that way so that they will cross the Rocky Mountains during the daytime, so passengers can enjoy the views.  Considering these trains cost more than an airplane ride that takes a fraction of the time, it makes sense to cater to the traveler who wants to smell the roses along the way.  Which explains what that smell is out on the Great Plains.

Cell Phones - A Curmudgeon's Nightmare

As far as I am concerned, cell phones are a nightmare, the biggest reason being that virtually everyone on the planet is on one 24/7.  What is the deal with that?  A second  reason is what you have to go through if you want to replace it, at least a cheap one, like I use. I broke my cell phone last week (I damaged the port used to charge it), and had to buy a new one.  I have cell phone service with Virgin Mobile. Six years ago you could buy their phones at Walmart, Target, and many other stores.  I spent this past Saturday morning driving all over town looking for one, with no luck.  I called the company, and was given the addresses of 3 stores where they said I could buy their phone.  All three turned out to be Sprint stores (Sprint owns Virgin Mobile), but when I drove over to one of them, I was told that they don't sell Virgin Mobile phones, and I could only order one online.  Of course, the battery was running down on my old phone, which could no longer be recharged.  Would I continue to have phone service until the new one arrived? When it did come, I found out that there were no instructions for it in the box.  I went online to activate the devise, and was given a list of phones for which you could download the owners manual.  Of course, my new phone was not one of them.  Why should I be surprised?  It makes me long for the good old days, when you called Ma Bell to come over and install a phone, and after they did, they simply went away.  And - I might add - back then the phone always stayed tethered to the wall in your home, and not in the hands of virtually everyone out on the street.  And no, I am NOT an old fogey.

Celebrating A Bronco's Victory With Stuart

My friend Stuart and I walked around downtown Golden, Colorado this past Sunday afternoon, and afterwards went to the Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom to have pizza and beer and watch the end of the Denver Broncos football game, which they won over the Los Angeles Chargers by a score of 23 to 20. It was a thrilling finish, and a surprise, since the Broncos had up to now only won 3 games this year and were playing with a rookie quarterback making his first start in the NFL.  In fact, people have become so disillusioned with the team that there were 19,000 no-shows at Mile High Stadium Sunday afternoon, and considering what they charge for a ticket there, that is an amazing fact.  And I must say, there were not all that many fans in the bar at Old Chicago watching the game, either.  Talk about fickle. That is certainly not the case with Chicago White Sox baseball fans.  They feel it is their duty as fellow south siders to sit in the stands, or watch the games on television, and suffer along with the team.  Year after year. Now that is true dedication.

High Tea At The Brown

I stopped in at the Brown Palace Hotel - one of Denver's oldest and fanciest - Saturday afternoon, and saw that the place was filled with people having high tea in the center atrium, as seen in the photo on the right.  They always decorate very nicely at the Brown during the holidays, and everyone there seemed to be in high spirits, soaking up the atmosphere.  This is the same atrium lobby where they have the Champagne Cascade, where 6,000 champagne glasses are stacked into a pyramid and filled (you have to buy a pricey ticket to take part, and so I have never attended the event), and also where every January the grand champion steer from the National Western Stock Show is invited to high tea.  That event I have also never attended, but certainly would like to.  I am not sure how they pull that one off, but it would certainly be fascinating to watch.  I would think having a huge championship steer sitting at your table would be awkward, but hey,  I'm just a kid from the south side of Chicago, where we didn't have to deal with issues like that.  At least very often.

It's December!

Today is December 1st, and the Christmas season is in full swing.  Friday night was The Grand Illumination 2019 at Denver's Union Station, which featured the lighting of the building and the 40 foot Christmas tree, as seen in the above photo.  I stopped in there yesterday afternoon, and it was filled with happy, holiday minded hipsters, doing what hipsters do this time of year.  And don't forget, there are only 23 shopping days left until Christmas.  Better get out there and buy those BMWs or Mercedes to give as gifts soon.

A Dangerous Man

I just finished reading A Dangerous Man, the latest Elvis Cole and Joe Pike novel.  I really enjoy this series, and this book is just as good as the others.  The stories feature Elvis Cole, a Los Angeles private eye, and his silent partner Joe Pike, a mysterious former L.A. policeman and mercenary who you would always want to be on your team.  This time Cole and Pike try to find a young woman who has been kidnapped for unknown reasons, but which seems to involve the Mafia.  I really enjoyed this story, and finished reading it in just 3 days, which for me is pretty damn quick.  Pick up a copy today.

More Thanksgiving Nostalgia!

I have no idea if the above photograph of my mother Mary, sister Susan, and brother-in-law George was taken on Thanksgiving Day or not, but I do know it was taken in the dining room of Susan and George's townhouse up in Fort Collins, and that it was the occasion of some such festive event.  Whether it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, or some other holiday, we were all together and happy, and that's what really counts.  Yesterday, it was just Susan and I - along with her two dogs, Tutu and Blackberry - having Thanksgiving dinner at my condo in Denver, and we were truly grateful to still have each other.  I would have taken a photo, but Susan refuses to let me photograph her these days.  And the fact that she is often holding a sharp knife in her hand when she tells me not to photograph her makes me think she might really mean it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sometimes I don't know what holidays my family are celebrating in old photographs, but I can say with almost 100% certainty that the photograph above of my sister Susan, brother-in-law George, and mother Mary was taken on Thanksgiving Day.  It was definitely a bright, sunny, and warm Thanksgiving, not the cold and snowy holiday we are celebrating today. Colorado can have a lot of extreme weather in just a few hours time, thanks to its elevation.  During the winter, it can approach 70 degrees one day, and the next be below zero.  Some years there can be almost no snow at all, and other years we get dumped on.  I hate to say it, but I think we are probably in for a nasty winter this year, based on the weather so far.  Which of course will not stop Coloradans from wearing shorts the entire time.  It must be the altitude that makes them crazy.

The Big Snowstorm

The weather forecasters predicted we would be getting a major snowstorm here in Colorado Monday night and Tuesday, and for once they were right. I drove up to Fort Collins Monday afternoon to take my sister Susan around on her errands, and the snow started up there around 1:00 in the afternoon.  By the time Susan and I went out to get food to bring back, the streets were snow-packed and slippery. I decided to stay over in Fort Collins to avoid a dangerous drive home, and when I woke up the next morning, the patio was covered in 16 inches of snow, as seen in the photograph on the left.

I shoveled the driveway a little bit at a time, cleared off the car, and went back inside to watch the weather reports.   The snow finally stopped, and the sun came out in the afternoon. I took Susan's dog Blackberry out on a walk (the first time in two days she was willing to go outside) and then headed home to start defrosting my Thanksgiving turkey. The roads were snow packed, but traffic was light and I got home in a timely fashion.  The only sour note is that my building does not plow the individual parking spaces, which put me in a "fowl" mood.  And yes, that is indeed a joke.  You get what you pay for.

Going Postal While Hiking The Highline Canal

A few Fridays ago I drove to Greenwood Village, a suburb about 20 minutes south of Denver, and hiked the Highline Canal trail, seen in the photograph on the left.  Greenwood Village is a pretty expensive community, with most if not all of the homes valued at well over a million dollars.  Several times, years ago, when I worked for the Highlands Ranch Post Office, they would send me to Greenwood Village to substitute for the regular rural carrier.  And I must tell you, it was never a pleasant experience.  It was a very complicated route, and it took over half the day just to sort the mail.  Then  I would head out to deliver that mail knowing it would take well into the evening to finish.  The route was more or less divided into three areas - huge homes with large pastures for horses; a woodsy area with homes set back in the trees; and a rather new area with homes that were absolutely enormous.  What do they do with all that space?  Rent rooms to students? Keep their horses in there?

Usually it was daylight when I delivered the mail to the homes with the horses, some of whom can be seen in the photograph on the right, but when I got to the homes in the woods, the sun was beginning to set, and I knew it would be a long night.  By the time I got to the neighborhood with the gigantic homes, called The Preserve, it was pitch black, and I still had a long way to go.  One time I remember having to get out of that subdivision to buy gas (out of my own pocket, by the way), since the tank was almost empty. I then had to return to finish delivering the mail.  It wasn't until after midnight when I finished, and keep in mind that you don't get paid by the hour, but by the route.  You get the same amount of money whether it takes you 2 hours or 12.  In short, the scenery and the weather were both very pleasant that recent Friday, but I spent the entire time thinking about how much I hated that damn job.  In that regard, I suppose this is more of a rant than a reminiscence.  Oh well.

The Anti Genius League

On a recent walk down Colfax Avenue here in Denver, I ran across the meeting place for the Anti Genius League, as seen in the photograph above.  I looked down the alley, half expecting to see a group of people standing in a circle, passing around a bottle, but was sadly disappointed. When I got home, I googled the Anti Genius League on my computer, hoping to see if I could find their meeting times (I was thinking I could make room in my schedule), but amazingly enough, nothing turned up.  I think this is the first time this has ever happened.  Until now, I have always believed Google knew everything. Still another one of my cherished beliefs destroyed. Sad, as Donald Trump likes to say.

A DU Kind Of Sunset

I took the above photograph of the sun setting over the University of Denver's Ritchie Center the other day from the balcony of my condo here in Denver.  The sky was a spectacular color, and the television weather forecasters, who feature sunset photographs on their nightly reports, say that it is the low angle of the sun that causes such dramatic results.  I guess that is one benefit of such short daylight hours, but happily, in less than a month the winter solstice will occur (get ready, all you Druids out there), and slowly but surely the days will begin to get longer.  Can't wait - no wonder the winter solstice was such a big deal back in pagan times.

A Stroll Across The DU Campus

I walked across the University of Denver campus - where I worked for almost 30 years as the Finance Manager of the DU Bookstore - this past week.  It's oldest building, University Hall, can be seen in the photograph on the left.  University Hall was built in 1890, but in the mid 1990s it was renovated and modernized, which took away it's interior Victorian charm, but did allow for such luxuries as electricity, heat, air conditioning, etc. People who worked  in that building were soft, not like our pioneer ancestors, but that's just my opinion.

On the way home, I took a photograph of the new student center being constructed, as seen in the photo on the right. This building is replacing the north side of the Driscoll Center, which was built in 1984, the year I started working at DU, and which housed a cafeteria, pub, student offices, and a new ballroom.  The old ballroom, located across the street in the south side of the Driscoll Center, was converted into the DU Bookstore, where I put in my time during those 30 years. My question is whether the name of the student center will be changed when construction is completed.  That is what happened when what was then called DU's CWC campus in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver was sold to Johnson and Wales University, and the Lowell Thomas Law Building, located on that campus and named after the famous broadcaster, was closed.  To the dismay of the Thomas family, the new building on the main campus was named the Frank H. Ricketson Jr. Law Building, and now houses the Sturm College of Law.  Another case of what have you done - or given money for -  lately?  The way of the world these days, it seems.

The Night Fire

I just finished reading The Night Fire, the latest detective novel by Michael Connelly.  Once again long time Los Angeles detective Harry Bosch teams up with Renee Ballard, an L.A. police detective who works the night shift out of the Hollywood division.  Bosch is now retired, and working cold cases in his spare time, and Ballard, with access to the resources of the police department, helps him out. In The Night Fire, Bosch is working both a cold case and a recent murder of a judge, while Ballard is helping with the cold case and also investigating the murder of a homeless man.  Connelly is a very good writer, who always tells a good story, and this book is no exception.  I would still be on the waiting list at the library for it, but Peter, my friend and former office mate at the Tattered Cover Bookstore, gave me an advanced reading copy, for which I am very grateful.  As for the rest of you, you better put your name on the waiting list now. Thanks Peter!

Denver's Central Platte Valley

I took the bus to Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore on East Colfax Avenue the other day, and from there walked downtown, finishing up at the light rail station in Denver's Central Platte Valley, seen in the photograph above.  When I first moved to Denver back in 1981, this area consisted of railroad yards and factories.  And now, virtually the entire area has been developed into pricey apartments, restaurants, bars, and retail.  I read in the Denver Post that the latest apartment tower, The Pullman (named after the Pullman car, no doubt), is about to open, with monthly rents starting at $2,785 per month.  Are there really enough people moving to Denver who can afford rents like that?  There are a lot of people already living here who can't afford to buy or rent even more moderately priced residences, and are either moving out of state or to other places in Colorado.  Perhaps everyone in the Central Platte Valley has 10 or 12 roommates to help pay the rent, like my old DU Bookstore co-worker Aziz had when he lived in Paris.  Sounds cozy.