Denver 2012: Day 9

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

July 11th 2012

Not having had nearly enough Dinosaurs on this trip, this day was focused on the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We actually did get up early, but were very slow in leaving, both from preparing for our “early night” taco dinner, and being worn out from walking a million Mesozoic miles the day before.

We were very brave venturing forth, using two GPS’s and no notes or printed directions. Therefore, I ignored both of them as much as possible and followed signs to get to the parking lot.

A Big Brother Story

Hey folks.

I’m handing the reins off to “Cousin Michael from Florida” today. Below you’ll find an awesome and heartfelt tribute to his big brother.

Just goes to show:

A) The writing bug runs rampant through my family.

B) Placing those descended from Italians in the Bronx into wilderness settings leads to entertaining chaos both North and South of the Mason Dixon Line.

C) We take our family bonds seriously.

Take it away, Mike-

There is no other bond like the relationship between siblings. For many of us its simply the comfort of knowing you can depend on somebody for things in times of need. I don't mean material things. I mean the things that can't be measured. The intangibles. Things like advice, consolation, sharing and most of all laughter and love.

Recently I lost my only sibling. My brother died in his sleep. He was older than me. It's been very hard to get over. Part of the reason may be because I've only known life with him. Now I have to learn what life is like for the first time without him. So far the only thing I've learned is that I don't think I'll ever get over his passing. I just have to learn to live without him.

My family has been extremely supportive. One of my cousins told me he thought it might do me some good to recall some of the memories of times I've spent with my brother. Putting them on paper might act as a sort of therapy. I agreed and I'm glad I did. It was fun reliving the old fun times we had. I would challenge anybody that has a sibling to do the same thing. Do it now and don't wait until they're no longer with us. Chances are they need a laugh too.

The following story is a recall of just one of the many great times we spent together. I hope you enjoy it.

Denver 2012: Day 8

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

July 10th 2012

We took a rare, intentional slow and restful start to the morning, pausing to call just in time to miss my Uncle for a belated birthday greeting. We would have called his phone instead of my Aunt’s, preventing the miss, but it was in its normal position of being both next to her and turned off, while he drove to the store. This left us to settle for conveying our wishes through her.

At the midpoint of my stay in Colorado, and after being in the state that has dinosaurs sticking out of the freakin’ ground for a week, we had yet to see any. This needed to be remedied in a big way.

Old Guy Game Guides: Fight night Champion – Hitting People for Fun and Profit (well, mostly fun)

Playing Fight Night Champion can be problematic for any Old Guy Gamer. This is because EA sports games tend to use EVERY STINKIN’ BUTTON on the controller.

Even with a fair amount of experience, I tend to confuse the shoulder buttons. One is to crouch and aim at the body, the other is to block.

I get punched on top of the head a lot.

Denver 2012: Day 7

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Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

July 9th 2012

Our plan for an early start was thwarted yet again, this time by Anabelle waking up in the middle of the night with itchy feet. No amount of treatments or coatings could stop it, and we were eventually reduced to giving her a major foot bath. I woke up at about five AM with similar issues. Luckily, we deduced that there was some connection to de-shoeing before entering the house from the garage, and with implementation of nightly sole scrubbing, the problem didn’t resurface.

Old Guy Game Guides: Rocky Vs. Real - Fight Night Champion Tournament

Before my wife was gracious enough to enable my addiction by picking up the game, I decided I wanted to pit the Rocky characters against their real life counterparts in series of matches. I started in the basic gymnasiums and moved up to more impressive venues as the heats passed. Modern technology’s greatest application is in the creative generation of wasted time, isn’t it?

OPENING BOUTS:

Denver 2012: Day 6

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

July 8th 2012

I set my alarm to get an early jump on the day.

It went off and I leaped up to shut it, because Rosa was unconscious, as was Anabelle in the other room. Realizing that was a pretty good idea, I passed out again.

Lone Ranger Redux

Despite their better judgment, my wife and daughter agreed to sit with me during the latest attempt to bring a childhood favorite hero to the big screen.

Despite every previous attempt during my lifetime being a total fiasco, I tried to keep an open mind.


Did I get to see successors with the same levels of presence and dignity as Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels?

No.

Denver 2012: Day 5

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

July 7th 2012

A leisurely breakfast was the order of the day after the exhausting travels of the previous night, before once again piling into the Impala. We still hadn’t named the car, Anabelle wanted “Batmobile” based on the color. However, since it got the shakes when braking downhill, and had problems finding its top gear on the highway, I felt it wasn’t worthy of that title.

Both these issues were explained away when we called the rental agent by, “Chevy’s do that.” Good to know next time we go car shopping.