Thursday Night with Dwight

With "The Office" on the air again, we are back in business. The sitcom reminds me of our days in Los Angeles, so it will take some getting used to here in Colorado. But Dwight is Dwight, no matter where you live.

A Morning Commute

After living in Los Angeles for 3 years, Becky and I are not big fans of the "Commute." I read on CNN the other day that the average driver wastes 38 hours a year sitting in traffic. In Los Angeles, it is 72 hours a year! It made me rethink my current commute here in Aspen. My commute is 25 minutes of walking. I start out strolling up the driveway . . .

. . . then I cross the Roaring Fork River on this nice footbridge . . .

. . . then I stroll through town for a few blocks . . .

. . . then I cross Main Street . . .

. . . and finally a block below Main Street I arrive at the Jerome Professional Building, and my commute is complete. My commute is the opposite of stress, nor is it a waste of time. In fact, it is one of the best parts of my day . . . easily one of the greatest commutes in the nation.

(Here is the CNN Story on "Commuting")
(http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/traffic.congestion.ap/index.html)

NOTE: It has been brought to my attention that this post has a slight "anti-california" slant to it. This was not my intent. It should only be "anti-commute."

Picnic Visitor

On Sunday night, we enjoyed a picnic at the big house down by the river. Our friend stuck the leftovers by Matt & Whitney's Land Rover while we ran back inside, and by the time we headed back out to the cars, this bear had won the jackpot. Chicken, strawberries, cheese, cookies, chips, you name it. So we had to wait a good 45 minutes to get to our cars while the bear feasted (during which time I took this photo). This was my 4th bear encounter in 3 days. It's bear heaven here in Aspen.

An Aspen View

This is the view from Smuggler Mountain, taken from the Specialized Stumpjumper the evening before I started work. And sprinkled throughout this great little town, we often see randomly placed bear traps. Funny enough, we see many more bears than we do traps.

Sam & Hank . . .

Sam's "happier" encounter with Uncle Dave's new dog, Hank. The first encounter didn't go so well.