Pro Football and the Denver Broncos

HI!

People ask me if I've become a Denver Broncos fan. I haven't been much of a pro football fan in the past .... maybe a little bit of a fan at the collegiate football level, especially rooting for U of W and any team playing Texas!

When we were in Oakland, the Raiders weren't easy to love. Rowdy fans and a string of bad teams lead to loyalties with teams like the SF 49ers. And even the Niners aren't loyal to their roots ..... moving to San Jose! Really? The San Jose 49ers?

I had a love of the Los Angeles Rams back in the days of Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch and the "Fearsome Foursome" (Rosie Greer, Lamar Lundy, Merlin Olsen, and Deacon Jones). It was, and still is, easy to get behind a charismatic player; but getting behind and staying with a team through thick and thin ..... another story.

But Denver is a different kind of football city. During the season, when you are invited someplace, people are quick to point out that the invitation won't conflict with the Broncos' game! Good thing Christmas isn't on a Monday, Thursday or Sunday! Good friends invited us over for wings, brews and "the Game" almost the same day we got here. And who wouldn't root for a team with the comeback kid on it? Manning broke the single-season touchdown passing record last night; he's on the road to breaking the single-season passing yards record; they are champions; the defense is playing better, ........ so there's lots to like. It's hard to go anywhere without getting into a conversation that includes discussion of the Broncos.

OK, going with the flow and enjoying it!

Wow! Another Saturday. Even when retired, Saturdays are somehow different than most work days. I think it's that while Deb and I are still going full blast, many businesses are on short hours or are short staffed. Whazzup with that? I'm still here; why wouldn't they be?

We picked lighting devices for the home today. I almost choked looking at the prices! A chandelier for $1,500? Three pendant lights for over the island in the kitchen for $400 each? I'm having a small amount of heartburn with that. Luckily, our contractor is "grandfathered," so our discount is in the >50% range. What about the folks who have to pay retail??

Deb is a jewel! We were talking, as we always do, about the house and specifically about the laundry room. Last talk ended in rearranging the interior walls of the room, adding cabinets and a platform over the washer and dryer to use as a folding table. The cabinets we are getting are a little on the expensive side, so Deb was wondering about another way to do the same thing.

After a few hours of looking on Craig's list, she had located an armoir that fit perfectly and had shelves for laundry products and an open space for brooms, vacuum cleaner, etc.








In addition, she found a cast iron deep well utility sink, so now we have a sink in the laundry room too. And, it's such a good idea to use furniture instead of custom cabinets for storage, we're re-thinking all the storage areas (except the kitchen!)



Cheers!

The Home Building Saga

HI!

Weeks have past and we haven't redesigned anything! That's a first for us after designing and redesigning the house for the past 3 months.

Monday, we submitted for a "building envelope adjustment." In short, at the final review session before the HOA Design Review Committee, they asked us to move the house five feet to the West so that we'd have more separation between us and our neighbor to the East. In order for us to move the house, we had to encroach on the platted setbacks ...... jargon for "you can't do that without County permission." So, we're in that process now.

All of the construction drawings are complete, so we're ready to pull the building permits, and then we can break ground. Estimates have us in the house by late July or early August.

But, the activity doesn't stop as we wait approval from the County. Deb has spearheaded the drive to eliminate what builders call "allowances." Allowances are pots of money put aside in the budget for groups of purchases like hard surfaces (flooring, tile, counter tops), plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures, interior doors and trim, exterior doors, etc. These pots of money are included in the construction budget and are "to be specified later." That means that at some point, the homeowner will be asked to choose all the light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, types of tile, etc. to go in the home, all the while staying within the "allowance." The problem is that it's really easy to estimate the allowances low (to show the budget in a favorable light) when the reality of our choices goes well over the allowance (increasing the cost of the home).

So, Deb and I are on a mission to eliminate as much as possible, all of the allowances. That means trip after trip to the showrooms to make all of the million and one choices that go into building the house. It's an iterative process ..... each decision affects all the other decisions and as the quotations come in from the different vendors, there's always a need to go back for clarification and change. No telling how long this process will take - probably until the house is completed and we're in it!

Irish Snug

Fáilte!

Tis the season for sure! Our good friends are including us in all sorts of celebrations of the final days of 2013. 

Wednesday night we were close to home on Colfax Avenue, listening to the music of the Gypsy Swing Review. Comprising the Review a violin, lead guitar, standup bass, and rhythm, guitar, the guys played "Hot Jazz" in the style of the Parisian clubs of the 1920's. 

Two sets of Hot Jazz and the youngsters started pouring in for the third set - of hot swing music! Deb and I took a swing dance class a few years ago and we enjoy the one or two steps that we can put together, but the kids at The Irish Snug make my head spin. I can't describe how fast and frenetic they dance, all the while the band playing the flapper music from the speakeasies of the 1920s. What a fun time!

Last night went to a small (100 seat) local theater to see "Santa's Big Red Sack." Yep, it's exactly what you think it is ....... a bawdy treatment of venerated seasonal traditions. Hilarious made more so because we've all lived at least a few of the sketches from the show. No spoiler here. You'll have to see it for yourself! 

Just goes to show how local theater can be both entertaining and successful!

New Address(es)

HI!

It's been sorta hectic the last few months, and as we get ready to send out cards for the Holidays (by the way Happy Holidays!!) we realized that we'd moved and failed to tell everyone. So here are our new addresses .....

For the next 8 months or so we'll be living in the Capitol Hill area of Denver near the downtown. The address there is:

Phil & Deb Storch
789 Clarkson Street
#605
Denver, CO 80218

When our new home is completed, our address will be:

Phil & Deb Storch
10647 Brown Fox Trail
Roxborough Park, CO 80125


We have mail boxes at each address, so it doesn't matter which you use (and we hope you'll use at least one!).

Happy Holidays and Good Cheer to all,

Phil & Deb