There aren't any pictures in this post... ironically enough

In case you're wondering, Elizabeth and I will probably post photos a lot more often now (as you can already see from our Estes Park posts). The thing is, neither of our computers has an SD card slot, and both of our cameras are ridiculously outdated, so it takes a whole slew of docks and cords and USB ports and plug-ins and TIME to transfer pictures from camera to computer. So today we decided it was worth it to spend $9 on an SD card reader that you can just plug into your computer. So now we have photos on our computers that have just been sitting on SD cards for months. Now that it's easy to put pics on our computers, we'll probably post more of them.

Today when we got to the chiropractor at 8:45 am (we thought about scheduling it at 8:45 but decided 9 was better) Elizabeth commented, "Oh hey! We'd be right on time if this was the time we were supposed to be here!"

Estes Park: An Adventure

Denver's had its mildest winter in forever. It's been in the 60s and 70s it seems for about 2.5 months straight. It's been sunny and dry and wonderful. So a couple of weeks ago Elizabeth and I decided that we were going to get out of town over Spring Break for a bit to relax. We scrounged up enough cash to get us a hotel room in Estes Park for a night, and set aside all day Thursday and Friday for the trip up (a 1.5-hour trip). We planned to check out Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), visit some Estes shops, eat a nice dinner, and spend some time doing NOTHING.

As the week wore on we found out that a humongous blizzard was on its way into Colorado, and it was supposed to strike... Thursday. No big deal. Maybe the trip will take us 2 hours instead of 1.5, but we're leaving at 9 a.m. and we can't even check in until 4, so we were hoping to take our time on the drive a little bit anyway.

Thursday came. The snow was falling. We got out of the house on time. We had lots of warm stuff and some food in our car. We were set. For about 20 minutes everything was okay. We were heading north on I-25, getting ready to exit onto highway 36 West (which connects Denver with Boulder and eventually takes you right into Estes Park). As we got on the ramp to 36 we hit stand-still traffic. Just as we passed our last chance point where we could have changed our minds and gotten back onto 25, we heard over the radio, "Do NOT take 36! Between Boulder and Denver it's complete gridlock. There are accidents everywhere, cars in the ditch, and traffic's not moving." Fantastic. So, we figured, no big deal. Within about a mile there will be an exit off of 36 and we can make our way back to 25 and choose ourselves a different route. Well, that mile took us 2 hours. We spent about an hour and 15 minutes sitting still in one spot. And that whole 2 hours was the calmest weather of the day... so by the time we exited and got back to I-25, we were in a white-out blizzard. Couldn't see more than about 50 yards. I drove about 20 miles an hour on I-25. We eventually got to exit and take a different state highway to the west that pointed us toward Estes Park. The weather was getting better. Before long it stopped snowing (but not blowing), and I could drive 50 miles an hour. Visibility was still bad. We made it to Estes and checked into our hotel. As evening approached we headed downtown to walk around and find some good dinner. Turns out, on a Thursday evening in Estes Park after the biggest snowstorm of the year, nobody is open. We found a bookstore that was open, and a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company that sold us some ridiculously priced candy. We had to look for about an hour for a restaurant to serve us. Thursday was a bit rough.

Friday was MUCH better. It was bright and sunny. We could see for miles (when you're in the mountains, it's only pretty if you're actually able to SEE the mountains). The roads were remarkably dry and clear. So we hung out at the hotel, took some pictures (see below), drove through RMNP for a few hours, and then took a longer scenic drive home (which was actually a faster trip than the drive up). We had a good time on Friday, and we did get to relax a little.

Our hotel was The Stanley Hotel, made famous as Stephen King's inspiration for his book The Shining. It's a gorgeous building, seen here:

Apparently King got many of his ideas for the book from walking the halls of this old hotel, and he even wrote the book while staying here. They didn't film any of the movie here, but they did film the miniseries (which came some 20 years later) here. The hotel regularly gives "ghost tours" of the property, because there are apparently ghosts all over the place. Here are some more pictures of the place.

I've never seen nor read The Shining but after reading synopses of it, I'm glad that I didn't read it or watch it this week... before we ended up staying in this almost empty hotel after a huge blizzard that threatened to snow us in for an extended period of time...

To see some more pictures, and a description of our trip from a different point of view, check out my wife's blog post on the topic.

British dudes can be cool too (French dudes probably cannot)

Here is a clip I found very stimulating. It's of a British dude confronting the Prime Minister on his (mostly economic) policies. I can't say I understand everything in the video, but he's totally laying the smack down. One wishes we had a representative or a senator in our Congress who would give a similar speech to President Obama. Notice the speaker's oratorical brilliance, AND his ability to deliver with such flair without the need for a teleprompter (a device without which our President can hardly do without).

Unlocked door

Elizabeth and I always lock our door. Not just when we're gone, but when we're home too. It's just habit.

Well, today we got home from work and spent a couple of hours on laundry and supper, and then we had to go out again (sidenote: I got new shoes tonight that are pretty cool lookin', which is especially good because my regular tennis shoes are literally falling apart -- the rubber heel on the bottom is hanging by a thread [or whatever a really thin piece of rubber is]). As we were walking out the door I noticed that I didn't have to unlock the door and I commented, "Oh, we forgot to lock the door when we got home."

To which my wife replied, "That's okay, we didn't do anything dirty."

Why King Soopers and Safeway make me angry

I know I know. I've blogged about my frustrations with grocery stores before. And what's really weird is that I would generally consider grocery stores to be among the least appealing blog topics available. But I must share.

Elizabeth and I are coupon-clippers and ad-watchers, so each week when we get the grocery store ads we search them for good prices on things we regularly buy. Now, as a refresher course, Elizabeth and I shop mostly at Wal-Mart because their "normal" prices on almost everything are better than the other two big Colorado grocery chains (King Soopers and Safeway), AND because they tend to shop around too and match or beat the prices of "sale" items at KS and Safeway. Still, with KS and Safeway both very close to where we live, and Super Wal-Mart further away, we do occasionally take advantage of their sales.

While shopping at Safeway tonight for a few sale items we happened down the ice cream aisle, where we noticed brightly colored sale tags screaming, "BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!!!" And this is why Safeway pisses me off: They insult my intelligence. They think that I won't notice that the ice cream (which I could get for $2.50 at Wal-Mart) is $6.49!!!! and that I'll just see the sale and think, "Oh wow! That must be a good deal. Two for the price of one!" And KS does the same thing. And this is just one example of a million I could give.

So, to the price- and sale-deciders at Safeway and King Soopers, I just want to let you know that I passed 2nd-grade math with flying colors, and treating me like a moron is not the best way to keep me as a customer.

25

Today was (is, technically) my birthday. I'm now 25 years old, which is kinda weird.

My wife treated me very well today. We had an AMAZING special breakfast this morning of eggs, biscuits, and gravy (after which SHE did all the clean-up). Then she took me to the bookstore to buy me a puzzle book that I've been desperately wanting (my old puzzle book is pretty much finished... so I needed a new one). Then we got Starbucks -- a special treat for us. After work I checked the mail where I had a letter from Elizabeth that was extremely sweet and touching (thanks, dear!) (I also had a card from my grandfolks... how they manage to make sure stuff gets here on the EXACT day that it should I'll never know). Then we ate at Red Robin with my free birthday burger (if you're not signed up to get a free Red Robin burger on your birthday, you're missing out), and even though I've said it before I'll say it again: Whoever decided that a fried egg should be put on a bacon cheeseburger should be given a raise and a brand new BMW, because it's AMAZING. After Red Robin, Elizabeth had another surprise for me. We went downtown and saw an improv comedy show! There were three different improv groups that performed. The first one was kinda lame, the second one was hilarious, and the third was a little of both. It was a great treat, though. Elizabeth did a great job.

Now we're home and we're tired, but not so tired that we can't watch a West Wing and eat some birthday cake and ice cream (are you EVER too tired for that?)...

I like U2

Tonight in the car I started singing a few lines from one of my favorite songs, Where the Streets Have No Name by U2. As I finished up I commented, "I like U2." Elizabeth responded instantly, completely confused, "Oh, uh, did I say I like you?"

Didn't get it? When I said "I like U2" Elizabeth heard, "I like you too."

Attractive celebrities

A couple of weeks ago Elizabeth and I watched Nights in Rodanthe with our free Redbox Monday night rental. It's a chick-flick kinda movie that stars Richard Gere. Elizabeth told me early on that even though Gere's getting older and is quite grey in the movie, she finds him "very attractive."

A few nights after that we watched First Knight, which stars a much younger and, quite frankly, much studlier Richard Gere. Multiple times throughout the movie I caught my wife with a glossy-eyed look on her face as Richard Gere (or Lancelot, as he's known in the movie) did something manly or romantic.

Tonight we were watching American Idol (which is not normal for us) and Carrie Underwood performed live with Randy Travis. I think Elizabeth caught the same glossy-eyed look on my face a time or two.

That's all.

Riches

For those of you who subscribe to this blog in a reader, or for those of you who don't scroll down every time you visit, I'm pointing out that I added a link along the side to the Global Rich List. It's kind of cool. You put in your annual income and it tells you where you rank among everyone in the world in wealth.

Just so you know, I am officially the 798,928,823 richest person in the world.

"Online"

I really like Brad Paisley. His songs are often very VERY funny. The video below is of his song, "Online," which is probably my favorite Brad Paisley song. The best part is that the video is every bit as funny as the song. Paisley enlisted Seinfeld's George Castanza (Jason Alexander) as the overweight loser, and used himself as the rich, good-looking guy that the loser wants to be like. It's great. Tell me if you laughed.

Brad Paisley   More CMT Music   More CMT Music Videos

A Terrifying moment

Today I turned in one of two papers I will write for Dr. Blomberg this semester. The paper itself wasn't so bad (other than the fact that yesterday I arrived at the library on campus when it opened at 7:30 a.m. and left it when it closed at 10:30 p.m.), but the fact that I had to give a 5-minute presentation to the class on the major themes from my paper was. It was quite honestly one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. There were 24 people in the room.  A few were auditing the class. Many were M.Div. students who are used to presenting things in front of people. Many were other MA New Testament students who are all light years ahead of me in the intelligence department and more intimidating than you might think. And the 24th person? Dr. Blomberg. One of the smartest people I've ever been around, and he certainly knew more about my topic than I did (because somehow decades of research and study of the NT prepares you a bit more fully than a week or two putting together a 14-page paper).

As my turn drew closer I felt increasingly nervous. My stomach started to hurt. I felt physically sick. I'd been dreading this moment since I first got the syllabus for the class almost two months ago and read about having to do it.

Then I got up, spoke for a few minutes about the topic on which I'd written, answered a couple of questions, and sat down. Afterwards one of the really smart guys in class told me I'd done a good job, and he sounded like he meant it.

No big deal.

(except I have to do it again in about a month)