Boulder Sucks

It looks nice, doesn't it? The Flatirons right against the town. The red roofs of the University. Too bad the city of Boulder is trying to keep a secret from all of us. Fortunately, this secret has been revealed to everyone in Fort Collins. . . Boulder sucks. Hard. Really, really hard. Let's take a serious look at that city the past 10 years. What good has come out of that? You have the JonBenet case. You have the Churchill issues. You have the recruiting violations. You have Katie Hnida. Gary Barnett. Ricardo Patton. 4:20 celebrations. The worst fans in college sports. The Boulder Police Department. University officials owning liquor stores. Betsy Hoffman. Riots. Burning couches. The "term of endearment". Racist CU athletes sending racist emails. Number one party school rankings.

The crazy thing is that I'm sure I'm missing a lot more examples. What a dirty, hippie-filled, terrible place. Every day that I hear more crap about that school, the more thankful I am that I am a Ram through and through.

InRoads

I am creating this post at work. Yes, I am at work. No, I am not wasting company time. I am currently in training for InRoads, a roadway design software. I have been using InRoads for a while now and this is the "advanced" training, but we are still talking about things that I already know how to do. This makes for a boring time. I figured I would make my time worth something and blog for the first time in a while.

There are a couple things of importance going on in my life right now:

My CSU season tickets came to my house yesterday
I leave for Vegas one week from today

That is all.

Broken Google?!!

Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of taking the three hour car ride (one way) to Torrington, Wyoming. HDR is doing an Environmental Assessment for the Town of Torrington to determine the environmental implications of a new bypass that would go over the railroad tracks through town. These EA's require public involvement, so every once in a while HDR representatives head up to the towns for these public meetings to present information to the townspeople, to listen to any comments the townspeople might have, and to answer any questions. Since my direct boss is managing these projects, I get the opportunity to join her in Wyoming to get yelled at by small-town people for ruining their towns!! (That actually only happens in one of the six towns we visit. Torrington people are really nice.)
So back to the story. . . the town reporter for Torrington always comes to the Torrington public meetings. I have found, through my various trips up there, that he is not the brightest person in Wyoming. And I am not the only one who has noticed this personality trait. A member of the Wyoming Department of Transportation deals with this reporter on a fairly frequent basis. Apparently, last week, this reporter called this WYDOT person three times in one day. The first time, the WYDOT guy answered all his questions. The second time, the WYDOT answered all of the same questions from the first call. By the third call and the third set of similar questions, the WYDOT guy really stressed a certain piece of information that the reporter didn't seem to comprehend. On this call, the reporter started to understand what the WYDOT guy was getting at. The reporter asked where he could see the information. The WYDOT guy told him that the easiest way to find the information is to "Google" it and it should pop up. The reporter told the WYDOT guy that that method would not work because "his Google wasn't working very well".
Yes, the reporter did say that his Google wasn't working very well. Does anyone have any idea what that means? Did he mean that his internet was slow and as a result his Google search was expectedly slow? Did he mean that the version of Google that is brought up on his machine was not working properly? Can this happen with any website at any time? Will my ESPN.com not work well some day? I sure hope not! Please let me know what this means, if you have any idea!

Weekends

I have decided that they go far too quickly. Seriously. I am sitting at my computer and it is 10:30 on Sunday night already. It was just Friday. I need some time!!!

Also this weekend, I decided that I need a digital camera. I don't take nearly enough pictures in my life and I think the major reason for that is the lack of a good, quick, and painless way of dealing with photography. Take some pictures, plug into computer, upload, view. That simple. Then I could add some pictures to this incredibly boring blog site. Don't get me wrong, I would love to get my hands on a Nikon film camera that I can mess around with. But for everyday stuff, a nice D50 would be quite handy. . .

Wow, I'm a slacker.

Sorry all three of you who read this. I have had a very hectic last few weeks. After the Flick family reunion, we returned to Denver for a week. On the 24th, my grandmother (my Dad's mom) died from her quickly spreading cancer. Thankfully, my Dad and his 10 brothers and sisters were all out there the weekend before she passed away. They were all able to help my grandpa and each other cope with the loss. Mom, Dad, and Matthew were still in the Twin Cities, so Sara, Katie and I hopped on a plane on the afternoon of the 25th for the funeral. On Wednesday, we had a visitation in the church preceding the funeral mass. We then processed out to the cemetary and had the burial. After the cemetary, we went to a local church for a luncheon that my family had set up. After dropping off my Grandpa at his home so he could get some sleep, we headed over to my aunt's house for some family time. We didn't leave there until late into the night. All in all, it was a sad day. At the same time, we got to spend a ton of time with the family and we got to hear story after story about Grandma, Grandpa, and all the exploits of the 11 children. Needless to say, I was exhausted after that day. Plus my flight out of Minneapolis was at 6:00 the next morning. I got home Thursday morning, went into work for just a few hours, and called it a day.

Friday was already a vacation day, as it was the day before Robert and Natalie's wedding. We played golf in the morning and then had the rehearsal and dinner that night. (As a sidenote, I hit a 310 yard drive on one of the par 5's at Englewood Golf Course. I am just as amazed as you!) Saturday was Robert and Natalie's wedding. Sunday, I flew to Phoenix. After an early dinner with my uncle and a giant bucket of balls at the local course, I had a couple days of HDR's Transportation Conference. Almost 800 of HDR's transportation staff came to Scottsdale for presentations and networking and social time. I had a blast, learned a ton, and met more people than I could possibly hope to remember. Thankfully, that will be my last trip for a while. The only thing I have in the future is a trip to Vegas the first weekend in September. Poor me. I have to go to Vegas!

As for the last week, I have been working and watching the Rockies. That is about it. Not too much time for anything else. Thankfully, tonight they finally won against those red-hot Dodgers. That puts them at 3 games out of the NL West lead. And the Wild Card is just as easily within their grasp. As for the Twins, they keep slugging out wins. After tonights victory (coupled with the White Sox loss to the Yankees and the BoSox loss to the Royals), the Twins now lead the Wild Card race by a 1/2 of a game. On June 8th, they were 11 games behind the Wild Card leading White Sox. They have made up a little ground since then. The biggest baseball news for me, though, has to be Justin Morneau's 30th home run this season. The Minnesota Twins have not had a 30 home run hitter since 1987 when they had a few. It was the longest streak in the major leagues by over 10 years. It was pathetic. Justin Morneau has changed all that. Thank you, you monster of a Canuck!

Big congrats to Cake on their engagement. I wish you both the best.

Family Reunion Weekend

Well, I (and more importantly, Sarah) made it through our whirlwind Minnesota/Family Reunion weekend. She was a champ, met a big chunk of my dad's family, and still managed to remember most of their names. Excellent work, Little One!

The bad news is that while we were enjoying the high temperatures (95-100) and the higher humidity (500-600% at least it felt like it), the Rockies were moving themselves back into the cellar of the NL West. So much for competing for a playoff spot. Seven straight losses spanning the All Star break is not the way to grab top spot in the West. They better be above .500 at the end of the year, or I will be greatly upset. They played far to well in the first half of the season to throw it all away now.

On a slightly better note, the Twins have won three in a row (taking the last three of a four game set with the Indians). Hopefully, they can continue to stay hot and get back into the Wild Card race. And if Detroit starts losing, maybe the AL Central race.

Next weekend, Sarah and I finally get a weekend off. No weddings, no trips, not much of anything. I have to coach my softball team on Sunday afternoon, but that is it. So I think we might go camping. It will be the first time all year. Don't know where we will be going, but it should be a good time. I'll probably fish while Sarah studies!! The weekend after is Robert and Natalie's wedding. Also should be a fun time. That is enough for now. Time to get back to work!

Bada Bing

It is incredible to me how fast summer is cranking by. It is already halfway through July. Amazing. It doesn't help that I have had very little free time on the weekends. I don't feel like I have any breaks at all!

Last weekend was the wedding of my best friend, John. We had a great time. It is still a little weird to me to see people my age get married. I know that I am just a year or so away from that, but it still weirds me out. At the same time, Johnny and Vicki were both extremely happy and I am happy for them. Now I have two weddings down and three to go (one of which I am in and one of which is in Vegas, woe is me). Next in line for the ball and chain is Robert. Another one bites the dust. Unfortunately, I hooked him up with Natalie, so I guess that I am to blame for him getting married!!

BEST NEWS OF THE WEEKEND - I found out that the CSU-CU game is a different weekend than my Vegas trip!! I am pretty excited about that. All of you Denver/Fort Collins/Colorado Springs people - be prepared for the hippie butt whipping that we are about to watch!! I believe tickets go on sale on July 17th. Let me know if you are going to the game. We shall tailgate and play Flickergolf and be happy.

This weekend is the Flicknic, the annual Flick Family Reunion. This year it is in St. Paul. It is usually a good time and I'm looking forward to it. This year, we have a couple additions. Sarah and Jorge (dating my sister Katie) will be joining us for the festivities. Should be interesting as they meet my dad's 10 siblings, their spouses and my 40+ first cousins. Add in the grandparents and some second cousins and we will have ourselves a party!! I am supposed to be making a family tree for Sarah and Jorge so that they can attempt to follow along!!

As required, the baseball update. Not too much to report here. Yesterday was the Home Run Derby, which was won by Ryan Howard. That kid can mash. And since I had picked him before the Derby began (honestly), I was happy to see him win. Better him than Big Papi (just because he plays for the Red Sox). Tonight is the All Star Game. The AL has dominated this game the past 15 years or so. We probably will see the same tonight. Of note: Francisco Liriano deservedly (is that the right word?) made the roster after Jose Contreras was removed. That puts 3 Twins (Liriano, Mauer, Santana) and 2 Rockies (Holliday, Fuentes) on the rosters. Not bad for a couple of teams not on the coasts!!

Florida Aftermath

So let us just say that my trip to Florida was not as smooth as the original plan. Basically, United Airlines screwed me over and then screwed me again. They made me miss my connecting flight to Chicago, made me go through Atlanta instead, made me sleep in the Atlanta airport that night, then to top it all off, made me late for my training. Fortunately the rest of the week went much better and I got home on my original itinerary. I did end up learning a lot, so it was a productive week.

And now - a baseball update for all of you named Timmy who whine and moan and cry about it. The Rockies continue to play some pretty decent baseball. As of today, they are in second place in the NL West and only 1/2 of a game back of the Padres. They kick off a three game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight at Coors Field to finish up before the All Star Break. Plus, Matt Holliday has been mashing the ball, Jamie Carroll has been a pleasant surprise, Todd Helton is starting to raise his average, and Atkins and Hawpe can swing the sticks.

The Twins, since I last blogged, have become one of the hottest teams in baseball. They had a couple long winning streaks, including a stretch where they won 11 in a row. They had won 20 of 22 at that point. The bad news is that they hardly made up any ground in the AL Central during that run. The White Sox and the Tigers keep playing good baseball to leave that gap between them and the Twins. But Johan Santana is returning to his brilliant form, Joe Mauer is an incredible talent, the bullpen has the best ERA in the AL this season, and Francisco Liriano is a badass.

As for the rest of my life. . . Johnny's wedding is this weekend, Flick family reunion next weekend, Robert's wedding two weekends later. Two more weddings in August and September, and we have ourselves the busiest summer of our lives.

Jacksonville

Ah. . . Florida. The big news from the Flick front is that I will be heading to Jacksonville, Florida next week. I will be heading down there to do GeoPak training (a third party software add-on to MicroStation). We have a Federal Highways Association project coming in that requires using GeoPak with MicroStation to do the roadway design. Long story short version - I need to know how to use it for work. So HDR is shelling out a crapton of money to get me down to Jacksonville for training. I leave Monday afternoon at 4:00. Because no one flies direct from Denver to Jacksonville, I have to have a 40 minute layover in the worst airport in the world - Chicago O'Hare. Then on to Jacksonville where I will land at 12:30 EST. My training starts at 8:30 EST. So I have 8 hours to get from the airport to the hotel, get some sleep, and still leave myself enough time to get to the HDR office down there. Lots of fun. I have training Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday all day and until noon on Friday. I leave Jacksonville at 3:00 on Friday. Then my adventure takes me to Washington-Dulles Airport in DC. I have a layover there before I head back to Denver. I guess DC isn't too far out of the way! They were going to send me through Fairbanks, but that fell through. I have never been to Jacksonville, so it should be a good time. I already checked with the rain dancers at work and they assured me that I will be there in between tropical storms. So the weather should be warm and humid. No hurricanes, I guess.

I feel like a Rosenbaum

Why might I be feeling this? Because I have waited almost a full month between blogs. It has been a busy month, though, so there is much to talk about.

First and foremost, I have moved out of my roommate-filled house and into my lonely-all-by-myself apartment. Don't get me wrong, my roommates were great. We seldom had issues and they always paid me for the utilities on time. However, there is something to be said for living by yourself. First, you never have to worry about who ate your food. It was you. Or the dog, but lacking the opposable thumb required to open the fridge, it is hard to place blame on the canine. However, the best thing about having a place of your own - the air dry. You all know exactly what I am talking about. You take a delicious shower. You are cleaner than you have been all day. You finish, step out of the tub, and walk right past the rack of towels. A few minutes and a couple laps later, you are dry as every and as happy as can be. (One important word of warning for all you first time air dryers out there - make sure the blinds are closed BEFORE getting yourself wet. It sure makes the neighbors uncomfortable when you realize the open blinds after a grand stretch.) That being said, it is a two bedroom apartment with one of the bedrooms acting as an office/foosball room.

I unfortunately had to miss the 2nd Annual Memorial Day Bike Ride/Reason to Get Drunk on Our Day Off Trip. As unhappy as I was to miss such an incredible event (I promise I will make it next year), I was having a pretty good time in Nevada. We visited a little city called Las Vegas. You might have heard of it. They allow gambling and drinking and all sorts of debauchery. It was grand. Nine of us went out to Vegas for Robert's bachelor party. We stayed in the downtown area, had a great time with the blue hairs, and I ended up winning some money. After a weekend of paying cash for everything (drinks, clubs, food, gambling, a sweet hat, etc), I had $50 missing from my original stash. Very, very successful trip. When we were down there, four of us played a round of golf at Legacy, a fairly inexpensive golf course in Henderson. The greens fees were still $120. But it was inexpensive compaired to every other course within 100 miles of the strip. I will say, though, that playing at a nice club does have its perks. First, we were met on our way up to the clubhouse. A man grabbed our bags, threw them on his cart and set up our carts for us. We walked to the clubhouse, made sure they had received our payment, and then walked out of the clubhouse. Our clubs were waiting on our carts on the backside of the clubhouse. Each of the carts had tees for both players, water bottles, and a wet towel. Very swanky. We checked in with the starter, who informed us that we each had a bag of range balls to warm up with. Very nice. After nine beautiful holes of golf, we swung by the clubhouse to grab some food. This place had a drive-thru cafe for the golf carts. Totally radular. The rest of the weekend was a blast. I had the required In-N-Out Burger, played blackjack, craps, and roulette, drank a few beers, and had a grand old time. I can't wait to go back.

Shortly after landing in Denver (just a day and a half later), I took off with Sarah, her parents, her grandparents, and her little sister to Phoenix. Sarah had her graduation down there on the 2nd. It was very cool to see the womanpiece get her hood and all that. It was a fun trip and I managed to win $150 down there (and all I needed was 30 minutes at a blackjack table on a reservation). Although she had her graduation ceremony, she is not quite done, as she has two more rotations to finish up, but she is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. On September 11, 2006, she will take her boards and be on her way to be a licensed physician's assistant. Pretty exciting.

The next Monday, I was down in Pueblo doing construction inspection for work for a week. It was hot, but it was still better than sitting in the office all day. Let's just say that I haven't been home too much since I moved in!!

Also, Gutter and Michelle got married (the wedding was a blast), Sarah and I have been busy every weekend with something. I don't think that we have a free weekend until the end of August. And by then, she will be studying incredibly hard for her boards. It's just been crazy. I'm going to try to keep updating this on a more regular basis, but with the hectic weekends and the busy work schedule and my trips coming up, I can't promise anything.