Jannuary 28, 2009
Hello
Chris,It is really nice to hear from you. We are doing great, thanks. I am not working much other than putting in about 4-5 hours a day for the community Board of Directors. I am running quite a bit and getting in really good shape for the 2009 road season which officially started last Saturday. We did a 5K in Greenville, SC that had almost 2,000 finishers. I got second in Grand Master and almost got under 19 minutes, 19:03 on a hilly course. I was pretty happy with that. Eve did well but man, she had some tough competition down there. There are some FAST runners in Greenville!
We are adapting slowly but surely. It is an interesting area and has it's own unique quirks like any other place. Instead of panhandlers and stressed out pit bosses we have lot of people here that like to plaster bumper stickers all over their cars. You will see a $70K Volvo with a shit load of bumper stickers expressing their concerns for the environment, being a vegetarian, what Cheney does at night under the covers, Mama's for Obama, Mother's for a Brother, Life is Good, Life Sucks, Dog is Love, Dog is My Co-Pilot, etc.. Obviously some people with a definite identity crisis in full bloom. It is a slower pace here and many people are still struggling to emerge from the 1970's. Probably something that has to do with the regular use cannabis and the effects it has on personality development. But there are some really sharp people that we have become gradually acquainted with and we now consider our friends. The running community is very strong here as is almost every outdoor pursuit you can imagine. It is a wonderful area for outdoor activities and sports, along with the arts, and gourmet restaurants every where you look. The economy has slowed considerably of course, like everywhere, but not near the gloom and doom I hear from Las Vegas. It is really bad there.
I guess you probably know already that Nick Braybrook retired last fall. Jerry Stueve put in for his position and the entire Construction Division was hoping he would get the job and the entire Resource Department was praying to God he would not. Because of the slow down the District did away with Nick's old position and the divisions were re-assigned under Tom Minwegen and Shawn Mollus. I have to wonder if Jerry went home and threw his own personal phone into a wall. I always imagined that guy in black uniform with red and white trim, black riding boots, a monocle in his right eye, and German Sheppard at his left heel. I always worked well together with Jerry because I knew how to handle him and he was a great antagonist when it came to dealing with details. Whatever we did together I knew it was bullet proof when we got done. But he was one weird psycho if I ever met one. I hope he stays on his medication and doesn't make any more kids.
