What do I do for entertainment?
Since moving to the Denver area in late June, I have read 22 novels and have 16 waiting to be read plus the one I am currently reading. I was a Language Arts major as an undergraduate in college.
I have only two TV programs which I follow. I do watch some that are a season later on Netflix. I also can stream movies on my computer if I wish. I think I've done that twice. I still enjoy watching sports but have cut back on that since moving here.
I miss my subscription to USA Today but I'm lucky to get one paper read with my childcare duties.
I discovered basketball, boys and girls, at the high school where my daughter teaches. I now have a lifetime senior citizen pass for Jefferson County athletics so the price is right.
I write this blog which is interesting to me and maybe a couple of others but it keeps me in the writing game. I also have a Facebook account but I limited myself to the number of friends which are now around 20 and they're mostly relatives.
Today I sent my first text message without help. I thought I should try that before getting too much older. I don't want technology to totally pass me by but I'm no techie by any means.

Saw two Packer license plate holders at the ski area yesterday while I saw a guy in a Steelers sweatshirt at a high school BB game last night. The Denver Nuggets head coach is from Pittsburgh and says he will have Steeler gear on. Too close to call.
MIXED EMOTIONS:
You know how people can sign up at various businesses to get newsletters and sales info online. Well, we are now receiving a newsletter from a local liquor dealer. We went in to buy some wine and wound up getting a discount by signing up for their newsletter.

Today I went skiing for the second time this season. This time it was Eldora Ski Area west of Boulder. I really liked the area but getting there is a pain. There is no quick way and it's all winding mountain roads. They also have the best prices ski tickets. This season I had planned to ski areas which I had never skied before so I could buy a pass package next year for areas I'm interested in. I'm averaging only one a month so I need to step up my effort.
It's interesting how the ski industry is pushing the use of ski helmets but so few of the Eldora Ski Patrol were wearing them.
I had a chili bread bowl for lunch. The bread bowl was no Panera Bread bowl.

Well, the Packers came through as predicted by the unscientific sampling blogged about yesterday.
Wearing Packer gear reminded me of a funeral I once attended. Dan was born without flexible joints at his knees and elbows. He was in a wheelchair while other kids were learning to walk and run and for the rest of his life this was his ride. I was Dan's counselor during his junior high years. He and some of his friends used to come to my office over their lunch hour and play chess or just visit. That was our routine on days that Dan was in school and he was a kid who had almost perfect attendance. I never heard him complain about anything-EVER. He later went on to high school and some college. The last time I talked to him he was working as a guide for the Bureau of Land Management at the The Three Trail Center in Casper. He was never able to exercise and gained weight. This probably led to his death in his 30's.
What does this have to do with Packer paraphernalia? Dan for some reason became an ardent GB Packer fan. Someone (I'm not sure whom but one of local columnist's father had been the defensive coordinator of the Packers) arranged for Dan to go to Green Bay for a Packer's game. He came back with all sorts of Green Bay souvenirs. At the funeral everyone in attendance was asked to wear a Green Bay item. I don't think I saw any rubber cheeseheads but almost all wore something from the Packers. I confess that as a Vikings fan I just couldn't do it. I did wear some green, however, and hoped that would suffice. Dan was well liked and the church was packed including a U.S. Senator and his wife, several teachers and coaches, and just people from the community who knew Dan. There are Packer fans and then there are Packer fans.

An unscientific sampling:
I went to my health club to work out this morning. It's one of the largest crowds I have seen. Since today is final four NFL Sunday, there was an abundance of GB Packer shirts, headbands, caps, etc. There wasn't one single Bear, Steeler, or Jet item. It shows the Packernation is a nationwide mania almost equaling beer.

I suppose I should blog. I hate to disappoint my two or three readers but it's been an uninteresting week.
I was going to go skiing Tuesday but the forecast was for snow and high winds making blizzard conditions. I didn't go skiing but went to a high school basketball game instead. Sure enough it snowed and blew. I washed my car that morning still doubting the weather persons. It snowed just before I went to the basketball game.
Went to the post office this morning. Saturday-two windows open but the line wasn't too long. Unfortunately a couple of Oriental looking folks were trying to mail a package overseas. They didn't speak much English but the postal person spoke whatever dialect they needed. The problem is overseas mailing is time consuming. I finally got through. The guy behind me (a guy with all sorts of metal piercings on/in his face) came up and wanted to pick up his UPS package. The clerk very nicely explained the post office has nothing to do with UPS. I don't know if it was a natural mistake or not.
Today I was going to drive to Colorado Springs and watch Air Force and Wyoming play basketball. The weather forecast was for afternoon snows so I stayed home. It didn't snow but Wyoming got killed so I guess it was best I stayed home.
It was that kind of week.

I guess there are a few advantages for being my age. I picked up a senior citizen lifetime pass for Jefferson County athletics this morning. I made the minimum age by quite a few years.
I also have received a discount earlier for dental work and haircuts (I deserve a discount on the second one-little to work on).

Went last night to a high school boys basketball game at the school where Keri teaches. After the game I ran into Karen, who is a retired math teacher but still keeps the books at some of the games. It reminded me of all the time I spent working at the "table." It started when I was in high school. I was on the junior varsity and the varsity was at a regional tournament so we JV players were assigned to work a tournament of smaller schools because we had a large gym. I volunteered to run the scoreboard and that's where I got my start.
When I went to Casper to teach, the guy who ran the scoreboard at NCHS (Dick Cheney's alma mater) for over 20 years was being transferred. I said I would do it. This was a time when there was only boys basketball. I was the sophomore basketball coach at the time so I was always there for the games anyway. I decided I didn't like coaching BB so I just ran the scoreboard for the next five or six years until I started refereeing high school BB.
When Casper opened the new Events Center, they got a Continental Basketball Association-CBA-franchise. This was minor league professional BB. Ironically the coach at Great Falls was George Karl, who is the current Denver Nuggets coach, and the Albany coach was Phil Jackson, who is the present Lakers coach. The first year I got paid but the second year I got two season tickets, could park in the VIP lot behind the Events Center, and could eat at halftime in the VIP lounge. Not a bad deal. My daughter still remembers the section, row, and seat numbers. It was interesting to watch two elementary kids kick adults out of their seats. I used to take the kids to give Kathy some rest.
Soon after that the Casper Chamber of Commerce, featuring the U of Wyoming Cowboys, started a two-day holiday tournament called the Cowboy Shootout. I ran the scoreboard for its duration. It was the week between Christmas and New Year's. They brought in some great teams such as Ohio State, Penn State, Baylor, Gonzaga, etc. Then the University took it over, moved it to a one-day event the second weekend in December when everyone was worried about shopping, Christmas parties, etc., and no one was that interested in BB. They did switch it so the UW women played the first game and the men the second. I didn't mind that so much but the crowds began to decrease. The last sellout (around 9,000) was when Bobby Knight brought his Texas Tech team, along with the highly ranked Texas Tech women, to Casper. I didn't have any problem getting rid of my seats that year. This year the University dropped the Shootout so I guess it was a good for me to move.
The Events Center also got the state basketball tournaments and will probably have them forever with Casper's central location although the University is trying to bid for them. The first year we held state, I trained all the scoreboard operators. This isn't to say some of them didn't have troubles. I used to get calls at school to come and help out with some problems some were having. I think I spent more time at the Events Center than I did at school during the tournament. Finally we has some experienced crews but I was retired by that time and just went skiing when I wasn't working.
Besides working the professional CBA games I also worked a couple of preseason NBA games. The Nuggets played the Utah Jazz several years ago in Casper. Not too long ago I worked the Seattle Supersonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) and the Phoenix Suns. I still have my "All Access" pass somewhere but I didn't try to go in either locker room.
Some of my most enjoyable times were when I worked the Harlem Globetrotters games. One year I was able to get enough free tickets that we made that part of my son's birthday party. The boys loved seeing the Globetrotters.
Obviously I had great times running the scoreboard but now I just enjoy sitting in the stands and disagreeing with the refs. Life is good.

Decision Time
Last night the wife hosted her book club (a bunch of wine drinkers with a reading problem as they refer to themselves). So what am I going to do with all those women in the house? My choices are go to the basement and watch TV or a NetFlix, go to a high school basketball game, or go to a movie. No problem-I'm going to my first movie since I moved to Colorado. It's playing at the Elvis (that's its real name), where they show movies that have been out for six months and the evening price is $3.50. With a stop at Taco Bell for supper, I hit the Elvis. My movie choice is "RED" which features several of my favorite movie stars and is my kind of movie-I mean it has a lot of violence etc. I'm the second person in the theatre and we eventually have seventeen patrons. At first the volume is too high and I know why I prefer to watch movies at home. Finally they get the sound squared away and I enjoy the film.
As I begin my drive home the temp on my car thermometer read a plus 17. By the time I get home (maybe 3-4 miles), the temp is a minus 2 and foggy since we live near a reservoir.
My cleaning job is to throw out empty wine bottle. I'm sure the discussion was lively.

Good luck to our nephew Adam, who defends his thesis (or is it a dissertation for a doctorate) tomorrow. Wish we could be there.

After watching quite a few football and basketball games this weekend, I believe that all college and professional teams should have the player's name on the back. I'm not familiar with everyone on the roster and it would be a big help. This would include professional baseball.

Yesterday as I drove to the fitness center I drove past two Starbucks. At both locations cars were lined up around the building using the drive-up window. It would have been so easy for 90% of them to get out of their cars and go in to the counter but no they sit in their cars and waste untold gallons of gas and cause a ton of pollution. I think we should outlaw drive-up windows except for the handicapped and cars with young children on board. I also think they should create a sign similar to handicapped signs for parents with young children and they too could park closer. I know there are violations using handicapped parking passes and there also would be with the young child program but it still would be an aid to transporting kids particularly to doctors' offices.
Closing drive-ups would lessen our dependence on foreign oil and make us get some exercise just getting out of a car and walking into a building. Not American, however. I just hope people will try saving fuel when gas hits $4.00 a gallon.
It's also interesting that when we go to the fitness center, we all try to park as close as we can to the entrance when walking farther would actually enhance our reason for going.

I worked out at the fitness center this morning. It was one of the biggest crowds I've seen since I joined. Maybe some people are serious about their New Year's resolutions. I decided a lot of the people (both men and women) who go to fitness centers do so to show off their tattoos.

New rules and regulations I would like to see:
1. Every fast food chain which serves cold drinks must have lemonade as an option.
2. All cars have the gas cap on the same side-either driver or passenger (I prefer driver).

Tried "video chatting" with the son and D-I-L plus their dog last night. This is the second time. They get to see the grandtwins and we them and it's a more personal way to communicate. I guess it's the "next best thing to being there."

The mother of the grandtwins informs me they probably won't be toilet-training prodigies.

Interesting family fact: My wife spotted this one.
She and her Minnesota brother each have two children. The elder sibling of the each family resides in the Denver, Colorado, metro area about 15 minutes apart. Each became a parent in 2010.
The younger sibling in each family resides in the Twin Cities also about 15 minutes apart.

Aloha, Julie.

More things in 2011
Note-The Rockies have apparently signed Carlos Gonzalez to a eight-year contract. Good.

1. My Denver Post delivery person takes some of his/her Christmas money and buys a new muffler.
2. The city of Littleton would do a better job of deicing main intersections in our subdivision.
3. I find a new doctor and I will like him. We'll find out soon.
4. Delta Airlines begins adding more flights.
5. I see more of my son and his wife.
6. We have more relatives and old friends visit us.
7. I get to do a bunch of skiing.
8. The grandtwins become toilet-trained prodigies.

More things I would like to see in 2011:
1. The Nuggets either sign Carmelo Anthony or trade him.
2. The Rockies sign Carlos Gonzales to a reasonable long-term contract so they don't raise ticket prices.
3. The Casper Ghosts (the Rockies rookie league team) make the playoffs.
4. The Rockies make the playoffs.
5. The Broncos trade Tim Timbow for a bunch of draft choices.
6. The Broncos play at least 500 ball.
7. The U of Colorado and the U of Utah tie for last in all sports in the PAC 12.
8. The U of Nebraska FB not win a conference game.
9. The U of Wyoming FB play at least 500 ball.
10 The U of Wyoming fires its men's bb coach.
11 Iowa State win the North Division of the big 12 (10?) in FB if they still have divisions.
12 The Big 10 (12?) finds new names for its two divisions.

Belated Happy New Year!

What I would like to see in 2011-part one-
1.Politicians who vote the issue rather than the party.
2. Cast out all members of the US Congress who have been in office over 18 years.
3. The Tea Party die a swift death. Sarah who?

Appropriate bumper sticker:
"My dog is smarter than your politician."