Went down to the Air Force Academy for the Wyoming-Air Force FB game. It's about an hour from our house to the parking lot at AF. Weather watchers know the wind in the foothill was between 40 to 70 mph yesterday. I thought I would be blown off the road near the Academy. Had a Famous Dave's BarBQ hamburger (large, cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, fries, and soft drink for $10), which besides the Wyoming's win may have been the highlight of the afternoon. The wind beat my windbreaker so hard I thought someone was punching me at times.
I was at the Academy for the AF-Utah game last fall. Weather was beautiful and the skydivers landed at midfield. Yesterday's landing was cancelled because they figured they would find the bodies somewhere between the New Mexico and Wyoming borders. The falcon's routine was also cancelled. I left at the end of the third quarter. Outside my gate I found a golf cart for handicapped people. I asked if they would take a senior citizen to his car which was parked about half a mile away. Five minutes later they left me off about 50 feet from my car. I have no shame now using such conveniences.

This afternoon I talked to a friend who had been at the game in Boulder. He said things were just as bad.

I watched the grandtwins this morning and then went to the fitness center for a late morning workout. When I came out and returned to my car I found a small circular thing jammed in the side driver window just above handle. The front read "This is a round TUIT please take care of it." I put it in my pocket but decided to look at it when I got home rather than throwing it on the ground. It's about the size of a hockey puck and the back tells me I'm a sinner-no doubt about it. I assume it's some religious organization doing "good deeds." Actually I wish these group would crawl under a rock and stay there. To accuse me of being a sinner having just met my car and not me I thought was a tall leap of faith. Some group called living waters takes credit for it. As we used to say in my old parochial school days; "It's enough to p*** off a priest."

This is a follow-up yesterday's blog. I completely obliterated the adage that "a bad day of skiing is better than a good day of work" Not true-with overcrowding, bad snow, and untuned skis I could have done some real damage to myself. I'm just glad I was smart enough to quit and drive back to Denver.

Now to the meat of this blog. I have satellite radio in my new car. Driving from and back to Denver I was able to listen to several sports radio stations (mostly ESPN). That amounted to between three to four hours listening to discussions about the sad story surrounding Penn State. To most that would be overkill but for me it was was a repeat of a personal similar situation thirty years ago.

I had an associate who was doing some group and individual counseling in the school where I was the school counselor. I kept hearing rumors that some strange things were being discussed in both individual and group sessions. Finally a teacher confirmed what I had heard. I went to an assistant principal who referred me to an assistant superintendent. It almost became a mini "she vs me ultimatum" but fortunately the school district stuck by me. The lady wasn't rehired. She did find a job with another institution in town and I think did a good job for them. I don't think she ever found out I was the one who "ratted her out" as she was always very cordial with me.

I think I made the right decision and followed the right course. Of course, my situation paled next to the Penn State disaster but I think I did what I should have despite some possible reprisal against me.

The great mistake

I bought a ski pass last week for Copper Mountain and Winter Park. Winter Park hasn't hasn't opened yet so I thought I would drive up to Copper, ski this afternoon, spend the night, ski in the morning and drive back Denver in the afternoon. I evened booked a nice room at a Double Tree in Breckenridge for tonight.

The drive to Copper Mountain was pleasant, little traffic, no weather, and I made great time. Then things got bad. They only had one lift and one run open. It was a blue slope which meant everyone of all abilities was skiing the same run and it was crowded. There was a second chair open at mid mountain but not that many people were using it. I started skiing a little after 11:00 so the crowd had downsized for lunch but it got busier quickly. There were also some ski teams from both Canada and the USA there which meant they had used part of the run to set up courses. They were also making snow which means the slope tends to get icy. I also took my old "rock skis" so I wouldn't tear up my good ones. Big mistake as they hadn't been tuned in years and I couldn't get an edge. I "biffed" on my second run. Two junior high aged kids stopped to see if I was all right but by that time my pride had been hurt as I usually don't fall once a season let alone on my second run. Early in the afternoon I decided my life was at stake. Enough was enough and I wasn't having fun. Fortunately I was told I could cancel my room by 5:00. I had to drive to Breckenridge to find the Double Tree. They had just taken over a property and no one seemed to know where there are located. After 45 minutes I found them, canceled the room and drove back to Denver. I sleep in my own bed tonight.

Keri, Kathy, the boys, and I went to Gunther Toody's, a retro -50's restaurant specializing in various hamburgers, wonderful fries, and great milkshakes. Reid was more intent on the food while Aiden just enjoyed the scenery and people. Both high-five the waitress. Keri shared her shake and Aiden got his first "brain freeze" but recovered nicely to have more shake. We tipped generously as we left somewhat of a mess although Keri and Kathy did do some cleaning. I think the boys enjoy going out in the real world as it is getting colder and they haven't been out that much lately.

The ugly: Murphy's law-The wind blows hardest on trash pick-up day.

The good: CU got stomped by Southern Cal on nation TV last night

The great: McRibs are back for a few weeks.

Although she died in March, my mother gets as much mail as I do although it's from organizations looking for donations.

I'm an omtimist. I think I'm going to go skiing more than twice as I did last year so I bought a ski pass yesterday.

Fired up the snowblower this morning. We got about 5 inches of wet snow. I'm happy that I bought the blower with the power to throw slush. It's been a lot easier on my back.

Yesterday I talked to my aunt who lives in Denver. I've lived here about 16 months but I haven't visited and don't know if I will. She's my mother's sister. There were 4 girls and 1 boy. Georgia is the last remaining of the family after my mother died in March. She and mom were very close and either phoned or wrote every week. We talked quite a bit when mom was ill and I kept her informed of mom's health. We visited for about thirty minutes yesterday. She's 98 but we always find time for about 20-30 minutes of converstation. I don't call often but I alway enjoy visiting with her. She hears well for me and is certainly alert. Mom was alert; she just couldn't hear.

Halloween is over. The good thing is we were able to get rid of most of the candy although the number of treaters was down.

The weather was beautiful. I only added a sweatshirt and cap and sat on the front step. The highlight was when Keri brought Aiden and Reid over to trick or treat. Keri made monkey costumes for them. They would take the candy and then give it back. After several more kids showed up and kept the candy, they caught on to that fast and put the candy in their jackolanterns. Our neighbor had a big Halloween display in her yard. Our boys went over and mingled with the big kids and weren't frightened by the layout. One of our neighbors had a black costume with an electric mask. He would just blend in with the other figurines. Then when the kids would leave the front door, he would start walking toward them and scare the heck out of them. He didn't do it to the younger kids but got a "Holy Crap!" out an upper elementary aged girl. Several of us were watching and had a great laugh. This happened after the monkeys had gone home.

Overall, a great Halloween and I think the A & R enjoyed it.

I had to go to my least favorite branch bank-I call it the "happy talk" branch. I just couldn't justify the extra milage going to another branch.

She:" So did you do anything exciting for Halloween?"

Me: "I gave out candy."

She "Got anything exciting planned for tonight?"

Me: "No."

I hate it when tellers talk when they're dealing with my money.