2019/12/30 - Still Got It!

2019/12/27- Memories from 1994

One of our Denali team's training outings was a trip to Mount Rainier. On our last night we decided to build the ultimate deluxe snow cave:

In the inside we shoveled out five coffin size slots, radiating from a center group area

                        

And finished the front entrance:

2019/12/26 - Chestnuts

I’m enjoying a new way of playing chess. I call it chess without stress. 

When I first start playing chess, one of the most annoying things was an opponent who took forever to make a move. It really takes all of the fun out of playing. 

So I started using a clock, giving my opponent ample time (usually 30 minutes) to finish the game. That’s 30 minutes for each player, so the max a game could last is one hour. That’s enough for me. Any longer and my ADD kicks in. 

But then I started dabbling in shorter games, and found them incredibly exciting, but very stressful. At one point I was playing 2-3 hours a day and had to quit because my stress level was getting too high. 

But I always come back. I’m addicted to the stress. So I try different things. There was Treadmill Chess, Team Chess, Chess 960, and now I’m doing the craziest thing I’ve ever done. 

I’m playing 50 games at a time, with one day to make each move. 

So every morning I wake to 50 puzzles, where it’s my turn to move. Most times the moves are easy, but some are tricky and having all day to think about them takes all the stress out of it. 

It takes me about 45 minutes to make the 50 moves, and that usually satisfies my addiction for a while. 

2019/12/25 - Merry Christmas!

Damn.... It really pisses me off when I forget to take pictures of an event. It usually when I’m having too much fun.

Anyway we (Val, Heloisa, Zeh , and myself) had a wonderful Slovenian dinner at Yanna, Brano, and Emma’s house.

2019/12/24 - Christmas Eve at the Hoffmeyer House

2019/12/23 - My Christmas Cookies

White Chocolate-Covered Italian Anisette Cookies with Sprinkles

This is my recipe, fine-tuned over the years:

(Makes about 45 cookies)

2019/12/21 - Renee’s Christmas Party

2019/12/20 - Christmas Lights

2019/12/18 - Mom’s 90th Birthday

Attendees: Val, Renee, Heloisa, Mom, Ze, Steve

Pepperoni 90

2019/12/13 - Just another Bocce ball night

Last night was Val’s company’s Christmas party. They held it at the Rhein Haus Denver. The people  were great and so was the food! I had a lot of fun watching the company bocce ball tournament.

2019/12/12 - Still alive and well

My birthday shoulder injury persists. I said I would give it 2 months, and if it still hurt, then I’ll go get it checked. The 2 months was up 12 days ago. 

Life is different without exercise. All my other minor aches and pains have gone away. My back no longer bothers me. When this shoulder heals, I’ll be a new man.  

In the meantime I’m selling pipes and having pipe dreams. 

2019/11/01 - Heloisa at 15

2019/10/28 - Don’t let me get in your way

2019/10/27 - Pipe Dreams

2019/08/04 - Our log cabin was shown in a Mirah music video

Our log cabin was featured in Mirah’s YouTube music video “The Forest”.

https://youtu.be/w2xhNWRYBU4

2019/08/03 - Whittling away my time...

2019/07/26 - The cabin

This is what's Left of the cabin I built with 3 friends 55 years ago:

2019/07/24 - Make America Great Again

Trump’s base:

2019/07/19 - And more carvings!

2019/07/12 - A rack for my carvings!

2019/06/15 - The obsession continues on.

2019/05/27 - Whittling away

2019/05/03 - Latest wood carving

2019/04/30 - I’m a Yankee

Many years ago I was on a business trip to San Antonio Texas to tutor Microsoft Access to one of the branch office employees. His name was Durwood and he was a very friendly guy. 

In general, the office treated me like a king for the week I was there. They picked me up at the airport, gave me a company car, and took me out to eat every day with the entire small office attending. 

Durwood took about 6 breaks a day to go out the back door and smoke cigarettes. I didn’t smoke at the time, but I would join him for good conversation. During the week I was there, I really felt I had made a bond with Durwood. 

But when it was time to say goodby, he said “Steve, your a pretty good guy, but you know you’re a Yankee.” 

I thought he was kidding, but when I look into his eyes, a realized he was dead serious. 

2019/04/27 - My new hobby

Whittling...

Q019/04/26 - Drinking Windex

I couple of months ago we had the kitchen floor refinished. The guy who did the work said that all we needed do to maintain the new floor was to wash it with a water and vinegar  mixture. 

I clean the kitchen every Saturday morning. 

The first Saturday morning with the new floor, I searched for a spray container to hold the vineger/water mix. I came across a half bottle of Windex. I knew that I had a spare bottle of Windex in the pantry, so I decided to pour the contents of the half bottle of Windex into something else.

I chose an empty plastic Perrier bottle. 

I can only surmise this, but I must have later mistaken this bottle for a real bottle of Perrier and put it in the fridge. 

My two dogs wake me in the middle of the night to go out and pee at least two times a week. I’ve gotten used to it, and while I’m waiting for them to come back into the house, I’ll take advantage of this time to go pee myself. 

Last night while waiting for the dogs to do their thing, I was thirsty and wanted to get the sleep taste out of my mouth. I searched the fridge for something to drink. 

When I spotted the Perrier bottle I was elated and took a big gulp. 

Yuck!!! What was that? I spit what was left in my mouth into the sink and saw it was blue. It tasted like ammonia, and had a familiar smell. I had no idea what it was. 

It took a while to get that taste out of my mouth, and while falling back to sleep, I wondered if I was going to get sick and possibly wind up in the emergency room. 

It wasn’t until morning that I figured it all out. 

2019/04/10 - Leadership

It was almost by accident that I became the project leader of a new major application “Estimted Sales & Purchases” (ESP). I wasn’t anybody’s first choice. It just so happend they the project leader quit to go back to his DBA responsibilities. He was also very willing to escape an inter-departmental political nightmare.

It was a challenge for me, but as challenges have gone in my life, I gave it 100%. 

To make a long story short, the project was a HUGE success, and after the first executive Marketing meeting since I took on the project, the head of my department came into my private office, shut the door and said “Usually I dread going to these Marketing meetings, but this year was the first time I was proud and got lots of congratulations. And Steve I know it was all because of you”. 

That was one of the best times of my life. I loved going to work each day and I was a rising star. 

Unfortunately the company was taken over by another giant company, huge series of layoffs followed, and eventually the company moved to Houston, except a small satellite Denver office was kept for a few esssntial employees that refused to go. 

I was one of those “essential” employees. 

Needless to say, I committed career suicide by refusing to go to Houston, and eventually lost all my leadership responsibilities. 

Somewhere along this transition, I realized that needed a new project. That’s when I decided to lead an expedition up the tallest mountain in the North America, Denali. 

Most of you know that story. 

I don’t know why leadership was so important to me in those days, I tend to shy away from it now. 

2019/04/08 - Billie

Sometime after about 6 months I started to question Billie’s pedigree. I have the pedigree papers and I paid the pedigree price, but she hasn’t grown up to be a typical Chocolate Lab. 

First off she has this ridge of hair running down her snout. I’ve never seen this in any pictures of Labs. Secondly she has some wavy thick hair on her lower back. My other 2 labs didn’t have this. Lastly she only grew to 55 pounds. My first lab grew to 140 pounds and Trixie weighs about 120 pounds (although she doesn’t let the vet weigh her).

I found that they have dog DNA tests to identify breeds. I want to buy one for Billie and one for Trixie. Val doesn’t want to know, although she ageees with me that Billie is a “fake Lab”. She also loves Billie to death, as do I. 

Billie also has a different personality than my other two labs. 

I just want to know. If she a mix, that’s ok. That’s cool. 

2019/04/05 - What Language?

We all know the story of Adam and Eve and Cain and Able. 

I was thinking the other day that there was a lot of conversation in both those stories with each other and God. 

So I guess all believers in the Old Testament as a Bible (Christians, Muslims, and Jews?) have to acknowledge that man was created with a language. 

But what language was that? 

And if we are all descendents of Adam and Eve, why do we have so many different languages? Wouldn’t we want to speak in the language of God?

So if we all came from Adam and Eve and they spoke a language, then theoretically this language is the origin of all the different languages on planet Earth. 

Sure...

2019/04/03 - Can Biden Survive?

Does Biden have the power to survive the MeToo attack?

If he doesn’t, it’s better he drop out of the race right now.

He would never survive running against a candidate  who has the power to survive grabbing pussies and sleeping with porn stars. 

In my opinion it’s all about power.

2018/04/01 - The Impossible Whopper

Burger King will be introducing “The Impossible Whopper” a meatless version of The Whopper. 

Supposedly they taste tested it on Burger King employees and they couldn’t tell the difference from the original Whopper. 

Check out the whole New York Times story. 

2019/03/31 - Tire Levers

Tire Levers

I’ve used these tools for a long time but I’m embarrassed to admit that I never knew what the hook end is used for. 

I thought it was used to break away the tire from the rim. I have to admit that I supected that I was using it wrong, because it would typically crack and break off. 

DOAH! I feel like such an idiot. 

Sometimes changing a tire and tube can go smoothly, but sometimes it’s a royal pain in the ass, especially during a ride. 

I got a flat last week 4 miles away from home. I tried filling it with compressed air, hoping it was just a slow leak, but it went flat again, right away. I chose to walk the bike home rather then go through the hassle of changing it outdoors. 

I’ve been changing tires for years, but like I said sometimes it doesn’t go smoothly, and I suspected that I was possibly doing something the hard way. So I went to YouTube and watched a short video. 

Then I saw what the hook was for. 

Jeff is probably laughing as he reads this, but just in case I’m not the only idiot out there:

Once you grab the tire away from the rim with the flat side of the tool, you use the hook to wrap around a spoke and free up your hand. 

I was always holding it down with one hand while working another tool, and sometimes running out of hands before getting the one side of the tire to totally break away from the rim. 

DOAH!

2019/03/27 - Rap Music

I’m not a big fan of Rap music, but one thing that’s great about Rap is that it makes you listen to the words. 

That may sound obvious and a little dumb, but it’s the opposite of the music that I grew up with. 

I have about a million songs in my head, most of which I can whistle the melody note for note, but can hardly remember more than a few lines of words. 

I think with Rap it’s the exact opposite. 

And when I do listen to the words of some of my songs, I’m sometimes very surprised. 

For example, did you know the The Beach Boys classic “Help Me Rhonda” was about a surfboard named Rhonda?

Or that “Me and Mrs. Jones” by Billy Paul was about cheating?

2019/03/26 - Getting old

As I mentioned in a previous post, the doctor scarred the shit out of mom last Wednesday.

By Saturday, we still haden’t heard from the doctor. She said she would get back in 2 days. 

Meanwhile I got a notice from Kaiser that mom’s test results were in. I checked them and something looked very BAD! This one kidney test showed a result of 171 and normal was less than 30. 

I wound up making an appointment as “Jeanne”, but planned to show up as her son to speak with the doctor alone. 

Bad idea. When they called her name to go into the private waiting room, they noticed that I wasn’t an 89 year old woman. What was their first clue?😎

And when I told them I just wanted to talk to her doctor alone, they said OSHA wouldn’t allow it. 

Meanwhile mom was calling me, leaving crying messages. I was on line at Kaiser when I got them.  

“Why aren’t you answering the phone? I know it’s bad news and you’re afraid to tell me” 

Soon after, her doctor called me and said her kidney functions are stable, even better than the last test!

And she said the 171 number was not bad for an 89 year old kidney. 

Mom was relieved to hear the news after 4 days of worrying like a psychotic.

Somewhere alone the timeline, mom asked me “What should I do?”, meaning the choice between dialysis and a painless death in her sleep. That’s a heavy question I won’t answer. She has to decide for herself. 

The 30-something doctor never should have been so nonchalant when talking about death choices. 

Have a little empathy for us older folks. 

2019/03/25 - Does this look good?, Now allowing comments

I guess I’m old fashion, preferring the Marilyn Monroe body type, but this looks awful to me, almost scary. It looks like a pretty woman with a skinny man’s stomach. Kind of creepy. 

....

BTW... I updated this blog to allow comments. Please test it. 

2019/03/23 - I Used to Could, Fish Love

Do you know the Mark Knophler song “I Used to Could”?

I never heard that expression until I dated a woman from the hollers of Tennessee. 

Debbie: “I don’t do it now more, but I used to could”.

———

I’ve raised tropical fish all my life, but never before had a relationship with one. I never felt a friendship until now. 

I got two really big fish in my 125 gallon tank. They were sold to me 4 years ago as Silver Dollars, but I knew better. They might have long lost cousins that were Silver Dollars, but these two were something different. Turns out they are Pacu, which is a relative of both the Silver Dollar and the Piranha. 

They are like vegetarian Piranhas! Seriously, they don’t eat the other fish so I can keep schools of little fish like Neons with them, and they don’t bother them. 

I recently noticed that, while all of the dozens of other fish in the tank are just swimming around aimlessly, the biggest Pacu is at the front of the tank just watching me. And when I turn around and look at him, he reacts with a little wiggle. He or she likes me. 

It’s kind of spooky. 

2019/03/21 - Pedophile?

“Show me the way to the next little girl
       Oh, don’t ask why...”

Does that sound like a pedophile to you or what?

It’s actually a line from a Jim Morrison 1967 song: “Alabama Song” (Whiskey Bar)

I don’t think old Jim could service in today’s Me Too culture.

2019/03/20 - Big Day

My day started out with my iPad not opening. I've had this problem before, but I was always able to eventually open it. I also know figured out that it happened every time I let it charge overnight, so I stopped  doing that. I knew there was  a problem, but I found a workaround. I don't like driving to Apple in Boulder. 

Then I got a notification saying that I had to bring mom to Kaiser at 11:00 AM.

I made an appointment to fix the iPad with an Apple "genius" in Boulder at 1:25 PM, so from 10:30 AM to almost 3:00 PM, I was busy with these two chores.

Turns out my iPad battery was fried, and they gave me a brand new replacement for $99! I was elated!

The doctor's appointment did not go as well. Mom’s kidney function was a little worse than the last visit. But that's not unusual, in the past it had gone up and down. 

Instead of just saying "We want to monitor your kidney function. We should check it every 3 months", she told her that if it get's much worse she would have to go on dialyses or die a painless death in her sleep, and asked her what she would prefer.

Mom was in no condition to respond. At this point she was crying and shaking. The doctor tried to calm her without success.

I told her not to worry, that if it stays the same, she would be ok for the rest of her life (and to drink plenty of water).

Then I went for a bike ride and had to abort because of bike problem which I will figure out tomorrow.

Later,
Steve

2019/03/15 - No Problem

When did “No Problem” become an acceptable response to “Thank You”?

Whenever I say “Thank You” to someone, inevitably they reply by saying “No Problem” or “Not a Problem”. When did that become an acceptable reply? How could my thanks be a problem?

I was brought up to say “Your Welcome” when someone said “Thank You”. 

“No Problem” is more of a reasonable reply to “I’m Sorry”. 

2019/02/02 - Roger Stone

I highly recommend watching the new Netflix documentary “Get Me Roger Stone”

According to the movie, if it wasn’t for Roger Stone, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton would both have been presidents.

When asked how he feels about the hatred he will receive after people watch this show, he replied: “I revel in your hatred, because if I wasn’t effective, you wouldn’t hate me”.

PS: The man has a tattoo of Richard Nixon on his back.

2019/01/27 - North Table Mountain with Bill, Sue, & Larry

Went hiking this morning with Bill, Sue, & Larry. Very windy!

2019/01/11 - Republican Friends

I'm finding it harder and harder to stay friendly with my friends that voted for Trump and STILL support him after all his immature antics and lies. 

How could he shut the government down and hurt so many American lives, just to keep political promises to his raciest base?

I feel like I don't really know who these old friends are anymore.

How could they still support him? Are they stupid? Are they racist? Do they read any news except for Fox news?

It baffles me, but worse it's dividing me from some of my oldest and best friends.

2019/01/08 - CIA

“I would never have agreed to the formation of the CIA back in 1947 if I knew it would become the American Gestapo”

- Harry S Truman

2019/01/07 - Bona Products

After 5 years of using Bona hardwood floor polish, our beautiful hardwood floor was ruined. The polish built up and got cloudy in spots. It was impossible to remove without sanding.

2019/01/03 - Writer’s Block

I’m having a serious problem with writer’s block. I want to write, I want to communicate, but I’m lazy. 

I find myself composing postings in my head, especially while I’m cycling, but then I’m too lazy to actually make the posts. 

So now I’m forcing myself to write something every day with the hope that I’ll GET OVER IT!!!

2019/01/02 - Chess960

Lately I’ve been playing Chess960 instead of standard chess. 

Chess960 is also know as “Fischer Chess”, because it was invented by Bobby Fischer, whom many consider to be the greatest chess player of all time.

Fischer Chess uses the same pieces as standard chess, but the pieces (not the pawns) are arranged randomly behind the pawns. 

Supposedly there are 960 possible variations, but I can’t prove that, having forgotten all about permutations and combinations.

I like Chess960 because I don’t know a lot of the standard openings and will lose to a player that does, knowing all the tricks and traps that the openings present.

So I see Chess960 as “pure” chess, without memorization of openings, and I find that I’m better at it than standard chess, holding my own against some really good players. 

I play a lot of chess. I’ve played 5,356 games since I joined Chess.com in April 2014. That averages out to be 3 games a day. 

2019/01/01 - I need to start writing again

Happy new year!
My resolution is to write something every day.

I have severe writer’s block so this is going to to be a challenge. 

I find myself trying harder and harder to connect with my childhood friends. I’ve not been too successful. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve fucked it up, or what. 

I live way too much in the past. 

Enough for day one.