Toronto, Canada and Elko, Nevada

What do these 2 places have in common?  Not much that I know of, except that I have been to both cities to visit client sites. 

There are some things about my job that I really like.  One of them is the travel to places where I may never get to if it weren't for work.  I am in Toronto for a couple of days visiting a client site.  I can't say that I've ever longed to visit Toronto, but it's nice to add it to the list of places I've been.  No time for sightseeing this trip, but I'll probably be back in the next several months so I'll plan better and stay over the weekend and sightsee then.

One of the more interesting client's I've worked at is a gold mine in Elko, NV.  Elko is a city in the northeast corner of Nevada.  The mine itself is about 75 miles from the actual town of Elko – about half of which is on unpaved road.  The work day starts very early at the mine – 6:00AM.  Since the mine is in the middle of nowhere and the drive to it is dark because the sun is not up yet, the client picked me up at the hotel at 4:15AM.  Yup 4:15 AM in order to get to the mine by 6:00AM.  There is literally nothing withing 70 miles of the mine, so we stop at the only doughnut / sandwhich shop that is open at that hour to pick up somehting for lunch.

Next time I go to the mine I have been promised a tour of the actual mining operation.  My prior visits have been spent in the luxurious muddy trailers.  None of the water that comes out of the faucets is potable – you have to drink bottled water.  Filthy, dirty, muddy trailers.  In the winter it's icy, so you have to be careful you don't slip annd fall.  In the spring it's muddy, muddy, muddy – this clay like mud that gets on everything.  I am told that in the summer it is hot and dusty.

When it is light out the drive is beautiful.  Sunset is amazing – the mountains become pink, gold and lavendar.  I am told that there are packs of wild horses in the area, but have only seen one lone horse and lots and lots and lots of bunnies and field mice.

I suffer periods of time of where I question the point of my job and wonder if I am really making a difference in the world doing this job?  Every now and again I am reminded that it is not the job that makes the difference, it is the people I have the pleasure of meeting and the making of new friends that makes the difference in the world. 

Before and After

Last Friday I went and got my CO driver's license and registered my car.  Both experiences were fairly painless.  In California you can now make an appointment at the DMV so you don't have to wait as long.  They don't have that option here yet so I went down to the DMV fully prepared to wait for an hour or more – after all it was close to lunchtime.  I was in and out in about 1/2 hour having taken care of both tasks!  Transferring my driver's license cost about $17.00 and since I ha d just renewed my CA license the CO license doesn't expire until 2011.  Registration was a mere $41.00 – I did have to have an emissions test and VIN verification, but that didn't cost much at all and you can take care of it at Jiffy Lube.  They hand you your new license plates right at the DMV.

Last Friday my car had a run in with a shopping cart at Home Depot and the driver's side tail light casing broke.  I had granite tiles in my shopping cart (for the fireplace surround and hearth at the condo – beautiful!) and the cart gained a little more momentum than I did and bump right into the tail light.  So not wanting to pay  the exoribinate prices a shop would charge I got myself down to the local Pep Boys, ordered the part and replaced it my self today.  Connie would be proud!  There must be something in the air here in Colorado, Linda is installing her own laminate floors (and is doing a fabulous job I must add) and I'm replacing my own auto parts…..!

  

Before

 

After

Patty and Cindy

When Linda and I were younger we would play a game we called "Patty and Cindy".  Most often this game was played after we went to bed prior to falling asleep or getting the proverbial "time to go to sleep girls" from the parents.  Linda was Cindy and I was Patty.  I don't recall the significance of the names other than we just liked the.  We pretended we were grown up and designing our own homes.  With meticulous detail we would describe to each other the floorplans, colors and furnishings these dream homes were made up of.  It would start something like this "when you walk in the front door…."

Isn't it strange that over 30 years later we are really reviewing floorplans, picking colors and furnishings for a real house!

What I’ll Miss Most

In order to receive something new, many times we have to let go of the “old”.  Pruning a plant allows for the new more beautiful growth.  Pruning requires the cutting off of growth that gets in the way of new, healthy and more beautiful growth.  A painful process.  Sometimes we must give up something to receive something new.

I am very excited to be in Colorado!  I know there are new and exciting things to be learned and received. The thing I will miss most living 1000 miles from “home” are the planned and spontaneous moments with family and friends.  The first picture below of me and Mitchell was taken sometime in February of 2005 – a spontaneous moment. The second picture was taken earlier this year – a planned time together.  These lovely young ladies are (from left to right back row) my niece Alaska and her friends Kari and Jordan, (front row) my dear friends Brandy (Phil’s sister-in-law), and Andrene’ (Kari’s mom).

         

I talked to Mitchell on the phone tonight and he proudly told me that he had learned to whistle and then provided a demonstration.  He also said something about a bomb, play-doh and popcorn all in one sentence, but I didn’t quite get the context.

Sorry about the quality (or lack thereof) of these photos.  I’m new at this, but am certain that I’ll get it figured out someday.  I am also certain you will be seeing more posts of the things I miss most!

Shopping for Appliances?

If you are, let me suggest you buzz on over to Sears.  They are having quite a good sale.  Today I purchased I a new range, and front loading stackable washer and dryer.  The sale includes rebates and because I purchased 3 appliances I’ll be receiving a $300.00 rebate.  You can also charge the purchase to an existing Sears account and pay no interest for 1 year and get a rebate on the delivery fee.  I am NOT an advocate of consumer debt. I do however advocate using these promotions in the event you have the money to back up the purchase.  This way you can keep the money invested earning interest until the term of the promotion ends when you will promptly pay of the purchase so you do not pay any interest charges.  Most of these promotions will tack on ALL of the interest accrued during the “one year pay no interest” period and add it to the account if the purchase is not paid off after the promotion term.  I know this from experience and it was a painful lesson. 

I had looked at the identical washer at Home Depot and it cost $100.00 less there.  I mentioned this to the sales woman and she informed me that they would match the price and give me 10% credit on the difference.  We checked the Home Depot website and sure enough Sear’s matched the price and gave me an additional $10.00 off.   In addition to the deals on the purchase, Colorado Springs Utilities offer a $75.00 rebate on the purchase of certain Engery Star appliances, my washer and dryer qualify.

I continue to do my part to support the local economy!  I wonder what I’ll buy tomorrow?

Travel Bug Geocache

My sister in law, Connie, loved to geocache (http://www.geocaching.com).  It didn’t matter where you went with Connie it was always possible that you would be making geocache stop. Last March when we were at a women’s retreat at Forest Home we took a quick trip to the snow and in true Connie fashion she talked several of the ladies into hiking up to a waterfall where I think there was a cache and then on the drive back into town we stopped along the road so she could find a second cache. For the record, I attempted the hike but warmth and dryness won out when we got to the river that you had to cross in order to get to the waterfall.  Last June when we were in Catalina to celebrate Linda’s birthday (see 1/18/06 post on www.blahblahblog.wordpress.com) Connie, Linda, Whitney and I spent a couple of hours geocaching.  I found the most interesting location for a cache to be a pet cemetary, which is where the photo below was taken.

 

Fast forward to 2006.  Last weekend was women’s retreat. I didn’t attend this year because of the Colorado move.  I received an e-mail today from a friend who did attend and she shared that they had found an angel with Connie’s name on it and put it together with several other items and a story about Connie for a travel bug cache.  The travel bug cache is one where you take the item from the cache and put it in another cache.  For this one the goal is to have Connie’s angel travel to all 50 states.  There is a way to track it on the Geocache website, but I’ll have to figure that out later. 

 

Rancho Liberte

Stunning!  Magnificent!  Astonishing!  Spectacular!  Today Linda and I took a drive out to our property in Elbert, CO. After a couple of days of freezing temperatures we had a spring like day.  Elbert is a city about 20 miles east of Colorado Springs.  The property is in a subdivision called Latigo Trails which is just north of the Black Forest.  I am almost certain that on a clear day you can see the plains of Kansas to the east.  Looking west Pikes Peak stands guard robed in snow.  The picture below was taken last June looking to the west.

 

Our plot is on the NE corner of Buffalo River Trail and Oregon Wagon Trail.  Linda chose her spot on what will be the garage and I chose mine on what will be the front porch.  To arrive at these spots we had to climb up a small knoll.  Under normal cirmcumstances this would be no big deal.  These are not normal circumstances however.  We’ve had snow and I only have a pair of tennis shoes.  My “climb” appropriate shoes are somewhere in a box in my garage.  There was some snow and the proverbial “they” have treated the dirt with some sort of covering which I have dubbed “furch” (maybe it’s spelled phurtch or firch or phurch, it’s a Brenda word so I’ll have to check with her on the spelling and get back to you).  I have no idea what this stuff is, but it got all over my shoes when I stepped on a particularly wet spot of it. 

The views are spectacular and I will be delighted when we move in to the house.  I guess they need to start building it before we can move in, but that is another story for another day. We have chose the name Rancho Liberte for our little plot of dirt and house. Rancho Liberte is french for Freedom Ranch.  The name has significance which I will save for a new post on another day.

It’s No Longer a Visit

The moving van arrived today!  Now it feels more like I’ve moved vs. visiting Linda.  My little one car garage is filled to the rafters with most of my personal belongings.  Next week carpet and bamboo floors will be installed and I’ll have the pleasure of truly moving in. 

Now for an unpaid service endorsement…..Never assume that doing “it” yourself is less expensive than hiring professionals!  Having United Van Lines move me actually cost less then doing it myself.  Also never assume that using a name brand professional costs more than a “generic” brand.  United Van Lines quote was less then some of the lesser known moving companies.  The quality of the service was excellent.   The adage “you get what you pay for” has proven to be true in this experience.

 

 

 

The First bunchie Blog Post

I’ve enjoyed my sister’s blog so much that I’ve decided to take a stab at it myself.  I certainly won’t promise that my blog will be as creative and entertaining as Linda’s, but it will be newsy. So this is the first post to the bunchie blog.  One of these days I’ll post an entry explaining why I’ve called my blog “bunchie”.

I arrived in my new home state on Sunday March 19, 2006 at 11:30 PM.  Linda and I left California at about 11:30 AM on Saturday (see 3/18 posts at www.blahblahblog.worpress.com).  We took a detour to a town outside of the Grand Canyon to stay the night.  Since I had never been to the Grand Canyon it seemed like an appropriate side trip (see 3/20 posts at www.blahblahblog.wordpress.com).  While you are there you might as well read the 3/21 post titled Two Condos.

Hmmmm,  I see a theme developing here – maybe I should just skip this whole blogging thing and let you read Linda’s.  No sooner or later I’m bound to get my own life so I’ll keep at it.

Tomorrow my stuff will be delivered and my condo will not be ready for it to be unloaded into the appropriate rooms.  What this means is that I will now have a garage full of my own crap (sorry Doris).  I am once again going to refer you to Linda’s blog – read the post for 3/14.  Some of my stuff will end up in Linda’s garage if it won’t all fit in mine.  Linda’s confident that it will NOT all fit in my garage.  Oh well turn about is fair play.

I’ve been fairly productive during my early days of residency here in Colorado Springs.  I am absolutely doing my share to boost the local economy.  Lowe’s and Home Depot have already benefited from my moving here.  I’ve opened my bank acccount, purchased homeowner’s and auto insurance and will be getting my driver’s license and car registration on Friday.

Okay – Linda’s bugging me to post so I’ll write more later.

Blog on!