Things To Do In Denver...

not much tonight....blogging tonight from a Radisson hotel room in Denver, CO. We rolled out of my place at 6:16 central time this morning and pulled in here at around 6 p.m. mountain time tonight. We'll get up tomorrow and drive another hour west to a condo in Dillon, CO.

The drive through Kansas wasn't so bad. It was lots of rolling hills and farm fields. I did wave as we passed the exit to Ogden! We saw lots of snow along the way. Really odd was the several herds of antelope that were grazing within sight of the interstate near the KS/CO border. Evidently they're not supposed to be so close to civilization. This excited my dad, who was a biology teacher many moons ago.

Irony: the air temperature was 14 degrees at dawn in MO and it's in the 40s here... My traveling companions are really hypeing the scenery to come.

Odd Kansas fact....there is some town (I forget which one; they blurred together after a while) where you can see the world's biggest prairie dog and a six-legged steer. I regret we didn't have time to stop.

Posts will be sporadic this week (so what else is new?) as I encounter wi-fi access.

The vacation adventure begins tomorrow...

bright and early. I'll board a rented minivan with my parents and another couple and set out for Colorado. The proper clothing has been purchased, a new camera is packed and my iPod is charged up. My last load of laundry is drying as I write this. I made one last run to the Y tonight to, well, run! I hope I have prepared my body sufficiently. We'll be skiing, snowmobiling, and possibly snowshoeing during our trip. My dad is bringing his laptop so with any luck and a wi-fi connection I'll post pictures here while we're there.

That's all I really have to say for now. I could talk about the deep freeze that St. Louis has been enveloped in for the last few weeks. I could talk about the tragic end to Anna Nicole Smith's tragic life, but enough of my friends in the mass media are talking about it that I shall refrain....really, what could I possibly add to the conversation? : ) Just that, OK, everyone, Miss Smith was NOT this generation's Marilyn Monroe!

But I prefer to be giddy with anticipation of crossing the great state of Kansas tomorrow... : ) If we pass near Cooks In Kansas territory, I'll wave!

.....................

On a side note, I'm glad to see the St. Louis Blues are playing such great hockey. The coaching change did the trick, pulling them out of their first-half funk. They shut out the big, bad Detroit Red Wings last night, the first time they've been shut out by anyone since 2004. The playoffs are still a long shot for the Bluenote, but their current third-place standing is a long way from where they were.

......................

Now, off to finish packing!

Gotta love that Calvin...

The saga of Barbaro the Horse....

is officially over. His medical team gave up on his aching feet and he was euthanized earlier this morning.

Can we, as a nation, officially get some sleep now? I know I've not slept well knowing that poor Barbaro was in such pain and rejoiced with my American brothers and sisters at every report of a miraculous save performed on the horse.

I have joined the Flickr revolution...

check me out at Flickr!

The colors of my guest bedroom...

My mom and her friend A. hit the white sales last week and now my guest room bed features some neat new colors! THANKS MOM!


Different lighting


This was one of the rooms I remodeled with refinished floors, new paint, trim, and doors last summer.

A few snaps from my trip to Malden...

token lost highway picture: U.S. Highway 60, westbound between Sikeston and Dexter, Saturday afternoon.
Yours truly, relaxing in Malden after my drive from St. Louis
Pine tree windbreak, across the road from my grandparents' home in Malden

Cold, like a popsicle...

That's how cold it is tonight, due to a cold pocket of Arctic air that swooped down into Missouri today. It's a one-day shot that's already on its way out of town, thankfully. The forecast calls for a cold week sort of like, well, late January.

I made a quick trip down to Malden this weekend to visit the home folks. The last time I'd seen my grandpa in person was in a hospital bed during his second stay at Barnes Hospital just before Christmas. It was great to see him relaxing in his favorite chair(s)! in the comfort of home. I'm officially jealous of the heated sun porch tacked onto the back of his house! I got an unexpected home-cooked spaghetti supper after I arrived; it was delicious! My cousin J ate with us.

My grandpa's health is pretty much in a good day/bad day / good week/bad week state. His plumbing is functioning well after the previous surgery and his stroke recovery is continuing. He continues to be plagued by bad blood, however. Not the hateful kind, but the clotting kind. It seems to be a complication of a long hospital stay and major surgery, we're told. He is taking all manner of blood thinners to keep things in just the right balance. I think that he'll eventually get through it, but it's no fun while it lasts! Keep praying, folks.

Startling headline of the week...

This headline on Stltoday.com caused me to do a double-take:

Sineta makes 'Idol'; Whitney Cook doesn't

say, kmom, try to keep us informed, OK? : )

LOL

-----EDIT-----

Yes, it occurred to me that Whitney's last name isn't Cook since her nuptials last summer, but I did a double take nonetheless! : )

Super Bowl Shuffle...

Here it is...in honor of the 2006 Chicago Bears' trip to the Super Bowl:

Chicago Bears Super Bowl Shuffle Video

Food Day!...

The new manager of my department at work started on Monday. To celebrate, we are having one of our famous "food days" today! The spread:




My contribution to the feast:


A Crock Pot of Taco Soup!

When we did some remodeling last year, we had a long countertop built and installed that would be our office prep area but could also double as a buffet line!

Sheriff Taylor vs. The Patriot Act...

Sheriff Andy Taylor wasn't made for these times...witness:

Now the Winter...

The Meramec River in Castlewood State Park, taken Wednesday afternoon. The sky was not great so I "photoshopped" the color a bit. As you might notice, the river is swollen, due to last weekend's heavy rain. I took the picture with my new camera.

Here's Looking At You...

As I mentioned in my last post, I was looking into buying a new digital camera for my upcoming ski trip. Well, here it is...



The Canon Digital Elph SD800 IS. It's TINY but shoots up to 7.1 megapixels! I'm having fun getting to know it.

Odds and Ends...

Another round of icy weather is bearing down on my locale this weekend...great. Another potential power outage. On my way to the gym tonight I noticed a brigade of electricity contractor trucks parked in the Kmart parking lot, poised to pounce on the first burst transformer!

I believe if the electricity so much as flickers for a fraction of a second during the ice storm, a riotous mob will march on AmerenUE's headquarters and burn it to the ground... : )

This would happen during my after hours on-call week. I got the pager and laptop on Wednesday and I haven't gotten a call yet. If the power goes out, that will likely change! : )

...............

still haven't made any progress on acquiring a pet pooch. I haven't had much luck with the stray rescue group I contacted a few weeks ago.

...............

I'm probably going to upgrade to a better camera for my ski trip. I've got my eye on this little point-and-shoot from Canon.

................

I officially have a new boss as of last Wednesday. We didn't have to look far for a good candidate. Our newsroom has employed their own technology director for the past six years and now he's moving over to our department. He applied for my deceased boss' position and was by far the best man for the job. I know him pretty well and think he'll fit in just fine.

................
My department's annual post-Christmas holidy party was held Wednesday night at Saratoga Lanes in suburban Maplewood. Saratoga Lanes is unique in that it's an upstairs bowling alley. My boss's widow and daughter attended, along with several retirees. The party was catered as usual by Hodak's Fried Chicken. I had two chicken breasts, potato salad and bread for dinner, and chocolate cake with strawberries for dessert. I smelled like an ashtray afterwards, but it was worth it.

He once was lost....

(this post references this situation.)

but now is found. Shawn Hornbeck, kidnapped over four years ago is found. In the same apartment where another kidnapped boy was found. The same sicko had them both in his apartment in a suburb of St. Louis.

How do you like that? The FBI raids a nondescript, quintessentially American suburban apartment, pretty sure that they'll find the missing kid they're looking for and another missing kid turns up in the same place! Can you imagine that? Unbelievable. You gotta believe sheriff Gary Toelke is feeling good tonight. Twice in a few months' time he's had to be all over the news because a bizarre kidnapping occurred in his jurisdiction. Both cases have ended favorably and with this one he got a bonus.

Predictably, the local news media has worked themselves into a frenzy over the "shocking" developments. The local television news teams are in their usual competition for lurid details. The newspaper has already published online statements from the owner of the kidnapper's apartment building and a representative of the local school district where the kids were found. Rather ominous is the apparent reality that young Mr. Hornbeck never made it to school during his captivity.

I can't fathom the mind of a person who would commit a crime like this. To just steal a kid off a backwoods country road one day and hold him prisoner. His mistake was trying to do the same crime twice--someone saw his getaway vehicle this time and that was his eventual undoing.

I also can't imagine what life must have been like for Shawn Hornbeck since his kidnapping. He never went to school but apparently was seen outside from time to time. Was he abused in any way? Was he brainwashed? Either way, he's in for some major re-adjustment in his life.

So, how many other people are out there with stolen kids? Makes me wonder...

Me...on skis?!!!!...

It looks like I'll be hitting the slopes at Breckenridge in February. I have never been skiing before so it will be a new experience! I'll be joining my parents and a couple from their church. I couldn't get away from work to go last year but this year is clear so I'm "in." Besides skiing, I'm told we'll be snowmobiling and snowshoeing. The photo opportunities will surely be plentiful. I will have to put in some extra time at the Y to get my legs in shape and buy some cold weather gear, though.

Birthday Dinner...

One of the unofficial traditions in our family is going out for dinner on birthdays. My mom had a birthday on Saturday and we celebrated last night. Red Moon was this year's destination. My bro and sis-in-law recommended it highly. It's "Asian Fusion" cuisine; Far Eastern food with French accents. I enjoyed a Teriyaki Ribeye steak on a bed of sweet potato fries. Topped off with vanilla ice cream and shortbread cookies, it was an enjoyable dining experience.

New Year's Day Hike

I did my New Year's Eve hike on New Year's Day this year. The Chubb Trail access at Lone Elk Park was the starting point for my annual trek into the Meramec River valley. The weather was cool, with a nice breeze at my back. My destination was a large prairie grassland area near the river. I hiked its perimeter from south to north this time. Once again I was alone in the wide open space and I enjoyed the stillness.

(Spooky: My bro and sis-in-law also showed up to hike, an hour after I left, at the same place, except they hiked within the park itself.)

Happy 2007...

I hope 2007 has started off well for all my readers!

New Year's Eve was spent with friends at a house party. I tried, in vain, to set off some six-year-old leftover packs of Black Cat firecrackers, much to the amusement of onlookers. Just my luck - a stiff breeze kicked up and blew out the fuses. I think they were 'duds' because others from the same purchase did the same thing six years ago. Not to worry, the remaining ordnance was tossed out with today's garbage.