The Bright Lights of Denver Were Shining Like Diamonds

I guess they were, anyway. Although I flew into Denver on Friday, I didn’t see squat of the Mile High City.

Instead, I spent my time in Aurora, which is a fairly boring suburb but contains, at least, a really nice softball complex, a Ted’s Montana Grill, an Outback Steakhouse and a Chick-Fil-A. Oh, and many hotel rooms, one of which in particular featured comfy pillows and an actual bathtub.

None of those things can be found in Minot, so I had a great weekend away even though I didn’t do squat. Honestly, that was much of the beauty of it. It’s been awhile since I’ve done squat. In fact, since my swear-in of June 14, I haven’t had a day off. Technically, I hadn’t had one before that, either.

So no complaints about the weekend in the Denver area. I took long naps, enjoyed pillows and salmon (not at the same time) and got to see Zippy.

Now it’s back to work and of course I feel extremely behind. We have a HUGE thing coming up starting Sept. 5 and I am in the middle of it.

It’s great fun but extremely stressful.

This past week was also fun and stressful. A partnership I put together made me a hero.

My supervisor *finally* got with the Zac Brown Band auction winner  (I'd been harassing him morning and afternoon until he did) and the guy gave us a $10k check and a promise for $90k more.

The initial check was for a "Gator," a John Deere 4-wheeler to haul things.

Steve, our site leader, didn't know about the meeting or the money, but he's the guy who wants the Gator.

Slight backstory: All our buildings here are named. When we got the two new reefers and I told Steve they were now "Cain" and "Able" and ever since he's been joking that I will name every new thing we get. (Note: I swear, the naming things predated me.)

So after I learned of the money -- but before Steve did -- I went into his office and found him sitting at the computer. I put my arm around him and said, "Just so you know, it has to be 'Seminole.'" He looked at me really weird and I continued, "I just can't call it 'Gator.'"

For about three seconds, he had a look of total confusion and then he put it together. It has been a long time since I've seen anyone that happy. He couldn't believe it. Guy's been walking on air ever since.

In other news, the wheat field behind my RV has been harvested. It was quite a Monday!

(If you enlarge the Gator shot and look closely, you can see my feet and my Chacos.)