Spring Hiking!

We've had really strange weather lately. Luckily, the weekends have been nice. Went hiking last weekend with a friend from work, and a couple of her friends. We did a six-mile loop around Castlewood Canyon State Park, near Franktown (southeast of Denver). Conan was a trooper-- he would've been ready for another six. The mountains had a fresh dusting of snow, and the plants are just now starting to poke their little green heads out of the dry early-spring ground. We've gotten a light dusting of snow the last couple nights, so it's giving the undergrowth some nice moisture. Hoping for some more nice weather this coming weekend-- I'm looking forward to being more active, and getting rid of some of my winter pudgy layer.

Baby's Got New Shoes!

I've received my income tax refunds now, so I allowed myself a treat. New wheels and tires for the Jetta. The old ones were heavy, ugly, and didn't handle well. They do pretty well in snow, so I'll run them in the winter. The new ones are a lot wider and sexier, so I'll run them in the summer. I know, it's pretty lame to go from globetrotting adventures to getting excited about new tires, but that's just how it is. Life in Denver is going well-- I've been meeting people, and expanding my social life. I had a horrible case of the crud over the holidays, where I actually broke something loose in my ribs, which took two months to heal up. Because of that, I haven't even gotten to go skiing yet this year, and it's already March. Going hiking with a friend this weekend-- should be nice.

Snowy Dog Park

The winter has been very warm and dry here in Denver, for the most part. Just when when Conan and I had gotten used to running around the local dog park in a t-shirt (me, not him...), things got nasty. Several winter storms in a row, with lots of snow and sub-zero temperatures. We never let a little weather get us down, though. One of Conan's very favorite things is to running around in fresh snow!

New Toy, Cont'd

Had a great time working on the odd little car over the weekend, with freaky warm weather. Almost February, and I was with Conan at the dog park in jeans and a t-shirt, wishing for shorts! Spent some real zen time taking the new little car apart and moving toward getting it running. Gunther and Jimmy watched from the dining room window, and Conan was tied to the porch during the great weather. The weather took a wicked turn, and it's crazy cold and snowy now. My usual 25-minute commute was over an hour coming home on icy roads today.  We've had a very summer-like winter so far, so I'm not complaining.
The little car is an interesting story. The seller is involved in software testing, like me. He drives a Jetta, like me. I used AAA to tow the car over to my house (five blocks, free). The tow truck driver noted that the little green car has a 'Ceasar's Auto' decal. He said that was the first dealer where he ever worked as a mechanic. Now defunct, it was about seven blocks from my house. It also came out that he drives the same kind of daily driver as mine-- a VW turbo diesel Jetta. That's a pretty exclusive, tight-knit group of car geeks, for the most part. He gave me a couple of tips about my car, and I told him about the work I had been doing to mine.

The paint job on the little car is a bit odd. It's dark metallic green, with a white faded front end, with pretty intricate, multi-toned gold maple leaves all over it. I wouldn't have paid good money to have that put on, but it's a pro job. The interior is in almost factory-new shape. Not sure how that happened, sitting in the hot sun for seven years and all.

New Toy

I've been getting back into an old mode of appreciating and modifying cars lately. With all my travel to the Antarctic, and other places around the world, my life-long interest in cars has been offline for a while. With a really fast motorcycle, the cars went even farther into the background. With Conan constantly with me, the bike has gotten pretty much zero time.

Now that I've gotten a cubicle job, and haven't had much use for the bike, I've gotten the car bug again. I've put as much money into my VW TDI as I plan to for a while, so I've got some extra energy for projects.

There is a great dog park about four blocks from my house, that Conan and I frequent practically every day. There was this little old Honda CRX parked in a yard just outside the dog park. I spied it from our dog park outings, and wondered if it might be a fun car to fix up. This is a high school kid's dream car, so I figured that they were hanging onto it. I couldn't imagine that they were open to selling it, and it still was there. I stopped by just after dark one day, and let them know that I was possibly interested.

Long story short, I picked up the car for $300! It hasn't run since '04, but it looks good. I've been spending the last couple of days working on the (seized) brakes, and scraping the nasty amateur tinting from the windows. I have no idea what I'm going to do with this car, but I love it to death. I've always wanted one of these. So far, I have less than $320 invested in it, and I'm guessing I could sell it for parts for $500, or running for as much as $1500. More to come!

Buddy, Betty, Jimmy, and Gunther

Well, since my new cats are now about 14 weeks old, it is definitely time to get them fixed. Just to have a bit of fun with the folks as the Dumb Friend's League, I let them keep the original names of records for the kittens, Buddy (black tabby), and Betty (brown tabby). It was immediately evident on taking Buddy and Betty home, that Betty is, in fact, a boy. Not sure how that got past the highly competent vet techs at the buddy center... While they were getting altered, I took my new-to-me Jetta Turbo Diesel for a highway fuel efficiency test. I drove from the Buddy Center down in Castle Rock down to Trinidad, CO, and back without stopping. 45 MPG+ for the round trip! Not bad. I love the car. I'm just trying to resist spending a bunch of money making it faster-- rather reserving it for a high-fuel-efficiency commuter car. On my test lap, I went around 360 miles at 70-80 MPH without stopping. Took a little over half a tank. These little TDIs are really amazing. Here are some pics of the kittens getting bigger-- taken a week or so before I took the little buggers in to get 'altered'. By the way, they didn't seem to be too bothered by having their manly parts removed. I had hoped that it would mellow them out for a day or two. Yeah, right. I got the four AM face pouncing just like I always do. If they aren't trying to rid the world of imaginary eyelash spiders, they fancy a bit of a drag race across my countenance each morn. Bitches.

By the way, I've decided that Buddy's real name is Jimmy, and Betty's name is Gunther. I've tried all other names, and they just don't stick. Betty was to be Brutus for a while, then Bruno. I couldn't remember the names, which told me that they were not right. Gunther, though, is right. Not sure why. If any of you have good name suggestions for the cats, bring it on. I'm flexible, and the cats don't care what I call them.

Surrendered Man License

Well, I've had to turn my Man Card in. I am a member of a listserv of folks who have Cardigan and Pembroke Welsh Corgis. There is a "Secret Santa" list, and I signed up this year. Those of you who have followed my blog know that I'm really close with my Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Conan. I'd hoped to hook up with other like-minded corgi 'owners' in the area, since they are the best dogs in the world. I received my Secret Santa assignment, and decided to make some custom pottery doggie dishes for Forrest and Morgan, two older corgis living in the south. I actually spent a Friday night at a paint-your-own-pottery store in old town Littleton, stenciling little paw marks on semi-fired pottery bowls for my SS assignment. I knew that doing so would seriously endanger my Man License, but I didn't quit in time. After all, real men don't spend their Friday nights painting pottery, and they certainly don't paint little doggie pawprints and bunnies on some bowls for some unknown chick's dogs in North Carolina. I think I may have to watch Fight Club six times, or eat some nails or something to get my status back as a self-respecting American male. It is all just so embarrassing.