Mile Hi - New Things

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a day late as this occurred yesterday (Fri 6/29/12). Matt's co-worker had a BBQ tonight so I drank a Wailua Wheat by Kona Brewing Co . Wailua Wheat is an ale brewed with tropical passion fruit made in Kailua-Kona, HI. It is golden, sun colored with a bright, citrus flavor at 5.4% alcohol by volume. It is inspired by Wailua Falls where you can swim in a fresh water pool at the base of a cascading waterfall. It is on Maui if you follow the old Hana Highway. It has won a few awards such as a 2011 Gold Medal in the Fruit Beer Category at US Open Beer Championships, 2009 Gold Medal in the Wheat Beer Category at Portland Spring Beer & Wine Festival Oregon, and 2004 Best of the Northwest/Pacific in the Fruit Beer Category at United States Beer Tasting Championships. It is a pretty good beer. I hope I can drink it again swimming in Wailua Falls fresh water pool!   What did you do today?

I participated in Bike to Work Day yesterday. Bike to Work Day is held in Colorado in June, the month after the national Bike to Work Day celebration, due to unpredictable May weather. The Denver area event is organized by the Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) with the assistance of a team of stakeholders, and is supported by KUSA/9News, Encana Natural Gas, RTD, Comcast, Craig Hospital, Noodles & Company, b-Cycle, goodnessKnows, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, CDOT, REI, Colorado Athletic Clubs, Westword, Chipotle, and the American Lung Association in Colorado. The Bike to Work Day site offers a map of stations throughout the region that will offer refreshments the day of the event, resources for route planning, safety tips, information about group rides, t-shirt ordering, and more. The annual event supports and promotes bicycling as a commute choice among workers who might otherwise choose to drive alone to work, in the hopes that once they try bicycling, it may ...

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a day late as this occurred yesterday (Wed 6/27/12). Apparently, Ro ckstar makes and sells coffee drinks to convenience stores. My company had a breakfast party at 8am yesterday for all employees that participated in Bike to Work Day . They had Jamba Juice, Santiago's Breakfast Burritos, and Rockstar Drinks. I took and tried a 16 oz can of Rockstar Roasted Coffee & Ene rgy Light Vanilla Roasted flavor (also made in Mocha Roasted and Latte Roasted flavors). Rockstar Roasted is a mix of espresso coffee, fresh milk, and cream with the blend of Original Rockstar. It is enhanced with the herbal blend of Guarana, Ginkgo, Ginseng, and Milk Thistle. The Light Vanilla flavor has 50% less fat & 50% fewer calories than original Rockstar Roasted. I didn't know what to expect (if it would be sugary, caffinated, or creamy). It was thin tasted a like a watered down Starbucks Coffee Frappuccino in the 9.5 oz...

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a day late as this occurred 2 days ago (Tues 6/26/12). I finished reading The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: King Solomon's Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness by Steven K. Scott in bed last night. It released in February 2006. I received it as a graduation gift last year when I earned my MBA at DU . Scott reveals King Solomon’s breakthrough strategies to achieve a life of financial success and personal fulfillment. He failed multiple jobs he held after college. Until he was challenged to read 1 chapter Proverbs every day of the month, promising that in doing so he would achieve greater success and happiness than he had ever known. That promise came true, making Scott a millionaire many times over. The book explains how to resolve conflicts, turn enemies into allies, discloses the 5 qualities essential to becoming a valued and admired person at work and in your personal life. These are the timeless t...

Apparently, Ikea makes and sells dark chocolate candy bars in their stores. My co-worker had a bar of it at work and offered me a piece of Choklad Mörk . They sell 3 types of chocolate bars: Choklad Ljus, Choklad Mörk, and Choklad Nöt. They are 0.22 lbs and sold at $0.99. The chocolate is made in Germany and described as delicately smooth dark chocolate with 60% cacao content. I didn't think it was smooth, a little hard but tasted sweet and roasty.   What did you do today?

  We went out for brunch today at 730 South Bar & Grill in the Bonnie Brae neighborhood. 730 South is a neighborhood restaurant bar and grill that offers large portions at very reasonable rates, that is locally owned and operated by Larry Herz since 1999. 5280 Magazine called attention to the "eclectic American comfort food served in a friendly neighborhood atmosphere". We've been to 730 South for brunch a couple years ago and it was very good and reasonably priced. So wh en I saw a Travelzoo Local Deal for 730 South I jumped on it. T he deal was $19 Brunch for 2 with Endless Mimosas (valued at $40).  We started with 2 mimosas, bottomless mimosas. They ha ve award winning eggs benedict on Saturdays and Sundays so that is what I had, I believe it was a special for the day, called Andy's Country Breakfast. It was 2 poached eggs on biscuits with bacon and country gravy. It was served with potatoes and fruit. Matt ordered the South of the Border Breakfast Burrit...

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a day late as this occurred yesterday (Sat 6/23/12). My fiancé and I have been engaged for a few weeks now, so we wanted to celebrate our engagement with our Colorado friends. We threw our Engagement Party at Wash Park on Saturday from around 12-5pm. It was a real hot day in Denver, about 95F with 20% humidity, so we set up our canopy and table under the trees on the north side of the park. We brought Bocce Ball, Frisbees, Volleyballs, and Footballs. We drank John Dalys, Coors Lights, and Waters. We ate a veggie tray, fruit, pasta salad, cole slaw, sandwiches, pretzels, chips, pistacios, swedish fish, and cookies. It was a good time with good friends. Everyone ate, drank, and played. We wound up staying at the park until about 8:30pm. What a great day! What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a few days late as this occurred 2 days ago (Fri 6/22/12). We watched a movie entitled Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, that came out on June 23, 2010. It is a romantic action comedy film that apparently went through a period of "development hell", which included a prior film director and multiple writers that worked on the script. It is about a woman that is caught between a covert agent and those he claims set him up. As their globetrotting adventure erupts into a maze of double-crosses, close escapes, false identities, and head-spinning romantic snafus, they come to realize that all they can count on is each other. It had some good action scenes and some comedic relief. IMDB gave it a 6.3 out of 10 and and I agree with that rating. What did you do today?

You may have heard of Pinterest . It is 1 of the “fastest growing social services in the world.” Pinterest is a pinboard-style social photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more. Users can browse other pinboards for inspiration, 're-pin' images to their own collections and/or 'like' photos. Pinterest's mission is to "connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting" via a global platform of inspiration and idea sharing. Pinterest allows its users to share 'pins' on both Twitter and Facebook , which allows users to share and interact with a broad community. It was founded by Ben Silbermann, of West Des Moines IA. The site is managed by Cold Brew Labs and funded by a small group of entrepreneurs and inventors. Development of Pinterest began in December 2009, and the site launched as a closed beta in March 2010. Their Mission S...

My graduate school had a happy hour tonight at  Wash Park Boathouse . They invited us to join the other undergrad and grad school alumni for free drinks and appetizers. I had 3 white wines and some apps (salad, pasta salad, chicken, beef, beans, and a cookie). A few of my old classmates came so we caught up on work and old times. It was a nice time at Wash Park Boathouse, right in the middle of the park on Smith Lake. What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a few days late as this occurred 2 days ago (Tues 6/19/12). When you go to Starbucks , they have business card size free iTunes songs, Pick of the Week. I went to Starbucks earlier this week on Monday morning and picked up the card. Then I downloaded the free song yesterday entitled "Man on Fire" by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros . The band is an American band and led by Alex Ebert. Their 1st full-length recording, Up From Below , was released digitally on July 7, 2009. Their 1st show as a full band was played July 18, 2007 at The Troubadour in West Hollywood CA. Their 2nd full-length album, Here , was released on May 29, 2012.   What did you do today?

I went out for lunch today at Which Wich  in the DU neighborhood. Which Wich is a sandwich shop that makes over 50 customizeable wiches with 10 Denver area locations, with other locations in other states. It was started by Jeff Sinelli, founder and former CEO of Genghis Grill, December 2003 in Dallas. Which Wich is known for its revolutionary ordering system that I thought was pretty unique. Find the bag with the meat category you want, grab a red Sharpie, and mark up the pre-printed menu on the sandwich bag. Select your sandwich, then choose the bread, cheese, spreads, and veggies. Your wich is prepared the way you want it and delivered in your personalized sandwich bag. Then you can also grab the red Sharpie, doodle on the back of your bag, and hang your masterpiece on the community wall.   I ordered a 7" Thank You Turkey on wheat with turkey, swiss cheese, stuffing, cranberry, lettuce, spinach, red onions, mushrooms, pepper, and lite mayo for $5.45 + tax. What did y...

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, we camped in San Isabel National Forest this weekend. The forest contains 19 of the state's 54 fourteeners, peaks over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado. San Isabel is 1 of 11 national forests in the state of Colorado and contains the Sawatch Range, the Collegiate Peaks, and Sangre de Cristo Range. Collegiate Peaks contains 5 of the area's 14,000-foot (4,300 m) peaks are named for famous universities and colleges, including Mt Harvard, Mt Oxford, Mt Yale, Mt Princeton and Mt Columbia. We decided we wanted to hike to the top of Mt Yale , which the 21st tallest peak in Colorado and the 5th highest in the Collegiate Peaks since it was about 30 minutes away from our campsite. Mt Yale is considered a Class 2 difficulty and is 14,196' tall. You begin the hike at the trailhead at Denny Creek at 9,900' and gain 4,300' in elevation, in a 10 mile round-trip hike. It was a beautiful, ...

I didn't have time to post couple nights since we were camping, therefore I'm posting this late as this occurred yesterday (Sat 6/16/12). We went camping in San Isabel National Forest this weekend from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. The San Isabel National Forest is located in south-central Colorado and is comprised of 1,117,131 acres. There are 43 developed campgrounds. We camped in Chaffee County, close to Buena Vista CO. Many visitors camp here and experience daytime activities like hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, white water rafting, and off-roading. Arkansas River and many paths are close by. since there is a state-wide fire ban (due to dry conditions and wild fires) we went downtown Buena Vista during the day and Mt Princeton Hot Springs Resort in Nathrop CO in the evening. A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the ...

After work and running 5 miles, I went to Little Man Ice Cream in the Highlands to redeem my Google Offer that expired today. I paid $5 for $10 worth of ice cream. Google Offers deals from a local businesses that are emailed to you every day. Little Man Ice Cream (and gelati) is hand-made with some of the finest, local ingredients, and in small batches to ensure quality. They also serve fountain sodas, floats, malts, shakes, banana splits, and sundaes. I bought a pint of Raspberry Love (raspberry ice cream with dark chocolate hearts) and a pint of Butter Pecan for $10.50 (- $10 Google Offer = $0.50 or $5.50 total). I also had a small free sample of Oatmeal Cookie. All 3 tasted great. According to their website, 427,021 scoops have been served since July 4, 2008.   In addition, from day 1, one of the driving factors behind Little Man has been a program called Scoop for Scoop. They have made a commitment to share 1 scoop of rice for every scoop of ice cream sold. In just 6 month...

Earlier this month, I noticed that REI was teaching a "Climbing 14ers and High Altitude Hikes" class on June 14th at 6:30pm so I signed up and attended. The speaker was an REI employee and originally from Montana. He hiked a few of Colorado's 14ers in his day. Colorado has 54 total 14ers. The class gave us the basic essentials and know-how to tackle the Colorado giants: 14,000-foot and other high-atltitude peaks. We learned about food, equipment, training, weather, and safety considerations. A Colorado Fourteeners Initiative representative was available for additional information. If your an outdoor novice or a seasoned adventurer—REI has the outdoor class that's right for you! They teach classes in kayaking, rock climbing, family hiking, biking, navigation, backpacking, camping skills, and wilderness medicine. If you love the outdoors and want to be outdoors even more, check out an REI event near you (most are free)! What did you do toda...

I went to graduate school at University of Denver (DU) to earn my Master of Business Administration (MBA). To attend grad school, I paid some of tuition with my savings account. However, I needed to borrow some money from the government (Department of Education) about $8,500 each year. It was a Stafford Loan and Direct Sub Loan.  My grad school loans were first done through Chase, then Nelnet acquired them at some point. Both loans were subsidized, meaning interest didn't accrue until 6 months after graduation. I graduated on August 12, 2011 and my interest began accruing on February 12, 2012. Since the interest rate was high at 6.55%, I decided to pay off my grad school loans. It was hard to click the submit button and see all that money go from my bank account back to the government. What did you do today?

We bought seasoned Pork Loin Baby Back Ribs at Albertsons on Sunday. A total of 1.5 lbs was $7.28. We thought it was a good deal and never barbequed ribs before so we wanted to try it. Most recipes say to slow cook them on the grill on indirect heat for about 30 minutes on each side. Since we only had 1.5 lbs we did 20 minutes on each side instead. I grilled 2 pickles as an appetizer and some eggplant slices coated with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic salt and thyme. Then served it with fried yams. The ribs were surprisingly juicy, not bad for our 1st time. It was a good bbq meal! What did you do today?

I bought a black 2012 Diamondback Podium 2 58cm Road Bike tonight for about $500 through a special vendor discount program through my work. Retail price is about $1,050. The 2012 Podium 2 serves up the perfect balance of performance, quality, and value. It is ideal for club rides, commuting, benefit rides, fitness, or recreation and features Enhanced Performance Geometry, a light weight 7005 aluminum frames, a DBR Podium Carbon fork, FSA Vero compact crank set, Shimano Tiagra rear derailleur, and 10-speed dual control shifters. I hope the bike rides as great as it looks and sounds! What did you do today?

We watched a movie entitled Alice in Wonderland with Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, and Crispin Glover, that came out on March 5, 2010. It is an American computer-animated/live action fantasy dark comedy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, inspired by Lewis Carroll's 1865 fantasy novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . It is about 19-year-old Alice returning to the world she 1st encountered as a young girl in her dreams, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter. She is told that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, a dragon-like creature controlled by the Red Queen who terrorizes Underland's inhabitants. Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen's reign of terror. It is an interesting adaptation of the original Disney movie I saw so long ago. IMDB gave it a 6.5 out of 10 and ...

One of my friends had a Premier Designs jewelry party today with cocktails and appetizers. Premier Designs is a direct sales jewelry company founded in 1985 by Joan and Andy Horner in Dallas, Texas. Independent Distributors, called Jewelers, market Premier Designs jewelry in homes all across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. For more than 26 years Premier Designs has stayed true to their founding Philosophy, Purpose, and Objectives (God created every person with value, enrich every life we touch, demand fairness). It was a jewelry party. The jewelry was nice and average priced. I got the Los Colinas Necklace, Bracelet, and Earrings for $96 (included tax and shipping) after the buy $75 worth and get an item $40 or less free. I had 2 margaritas, some veggies and hummus, some chips and guacamole, crackers and cheese, and a macaroon.                                        What did you do today...

I went to Paxia in Highlands with a couple friends for happy hour tonight. Paxia (Pá-she-á) is the word for Peace in Nahuatl (Náh-wahl), an ancient language from the Aztec Empire, one that is still spoken by nearly 2 million people today. It is a new mexican restaurant with a nice patio for summertime fun. They have $4.75 house margaritas from 3-6pm on everyday. They have other drink and food specials as well. I had 2 house margaritas (traditional coin style made with 1800 Plata, Cointreau Liqueur, organic agave nectar, shaken on the rocks). They also served complementary chips and salsa. The salsa had a little kick. This was a good start to the weekend!                                                   What did you do today?

After work today, I went to a Chase bank on my way home to open a safe deposit box. These are individually-secured containers, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices, or other institutions. Safe deposit boxes are used to store valuable possessions, such as gemstones, precious metals, currency, marketable securities, important documents such as wills, property deeds, and birth certificates, or computer data storage that need protection from theft, fire, flood, tampering, or other reasons. In the typical arrangement, a renter pays the bank a fee for the use of the box, which can be opened only with production of an assigned key, the bank's own guard key, the proper signature, and perhaps a code of some sort. Since I have a Chase Premier Platinum Account at Chase, I could open a small safe deposit box without a fee (3” x 5” box or smaller for no annual fee). I didn't put anything in the safe deposit b...

After a 3 mile run, we HBurger in the LoDo neighborhood downtown since I had a Groupon . HBurger is a quick-serve restaurant that makes premium burgers and contemporary cocktails in 3 locations in Colorado. Robin Smith Designs uses locally sourced Angus Beef, liquid nitrogen-cooled draft beer, and top-shelf bourbon. HBurger won the Peoples Choice 1st place in the 1st annual Denver Burger Battle in Winter 2009-2010.   Matt and I ordered and split an HBurger ($11.50) with freshly ground 100% Angus beef, Hatch chile, smoked Cheddar, sweet ‘n’ spicy bacon, Bibb lettuce, tomato, and onion, with a red pepper-tomato jam on a City Bakery (won Best Bakery award in 2009) bun served with hand-cut fries and HSauce. I really enjoyed the HBurger and would definitely go back there to get a Nutella Marshmallow ($8) drink with UV Vanilla vodka, hazelnut liquor, Nutella, and vanilla ice cream; topped with roasted marshmallows for dessert! What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this late as this occurred yesterday (Tues 6/5/12). After playing softball, we went to our friends house. His roommate owns a dog so we wanted to play with it. He has a Bulldog, named Crook, that is about 8 months old. He was pretty energetic for a Bulldog. Bulldogs are the name for a breed of dog. I'm not sure if his is an American Bulldog, English Bulldog, Olde English Bulldogge, or French Bulldog. The English Bulldog breed is the official mascot of the United States Marine Corps. 39 American universities use a Bulldog as their mascot. Crutch was white and brown in color Bulldogs are typically muscular heavy dogs with a wrinkled faces and distinctive pushed-in noses. He made grunting and snorting noises and was kinda slobbery. He was pretty much what I thought Bulldogs were like. The image below is not Crook, but it looks like him. What did you do today?

I was searching through my pre-install apps on my Droid Razr and decided to check out Google's Play Music . Google Play is a digital-distribution multimedia-content service from Google which includes an online store for music, movies, books, and Android applications and games, as well as a cloud media player. The service is accessible from the web, Play Store mobile app on Android, and Google TV. Purchased content is available across all of these platforms/devices. Google Play was introduced in March 2012 when Google rebranded and merged its predecessors Android Market and Google Music services. Google Play Music library is accessible from any computer and up to 10 Android devices. The Google Play Music app lets you listen to your music collection anywhere. All your music is stored online, so no need to worry about syncing or storage space. According to Google there are "hundreds" of free songs in Google Play and "millions" available for purchase. Users can ...

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this late as this occurred yesterday (Sun 6/3/12). We watched a movie entitled Yogi Bear with Dan Aykroyd (voice of Yogi Bear), Justin Timberlake (voice of Boo-Boo), Anna Faris, and Tom Cavanagh, that came out on December 17, 2010. It is an American live-action film adaptation of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Yogi Bear Show . Yogi is a talking brown bear who enjoys stealing picnic baskets from visitors to Jellystone Park. The movie is about a Mayor that decides to shut Jellystone Park down and sell the land. That means families will no longer be able to experience the natural beauty of the outdoors. Yogi must prove that he really is "smarter than the average bear" as he and Boo Boo join forces with their old nemesis Ranger Smith to find a way to save Jellystone Park from closing forever. It's a kid's movie but I thought some parts were entertaining. IMDB gave it a 4.3 out of 10 and I woul...

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this late as this occurred yesterday (Sat 6/1/12). I bought a black 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Sedan a few days ago and noticed the Low Tire Pressure indicator light has been lit on the dashboard. I called the dealer, Groove Mazda , and brought it in to get checked out. They couldn't find anything immediately wrong with it, so he wanted to take it to the Subaru division 1st thing Monday morning to check it out. He gave me a free rental car, a black 2012 Mazda 6, with free gas. I thought that was a nice gesture. It is bigger than my Subaru Legacy but still a nice sedan. It has radio controls on the steering wheel, which is nice, mine does not have that feature. What did you do today?

I went to Brothers Bar & Grill in LoDo with a friend for happy hour tonight to watch the Colorado Rockies baseball game. Apparently, Brothers is a chain bar/restaurant as it appeared as if they have 16 bars across the midwest. They have $3.00 You-Call-Its from 4-8pm on game days. I had 3 Three Olives Vanilla Vodka and Diet Cokes. The Brothers in Denver has an outdoor patio and bar where we enjoyed our drinks and the game. The Rockies beat the Dodgers 13-3. What did you do today?

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this late as this occurred yesterday (Thurs 5/31/12). I bought a black 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Sedan for about $18,000 (also got $2,500 off for my trade-in) at Groove Mazda . It is 4 cylinder, 170 horsepower, 4 speed automatic, all wheel drive, PZEV, 9-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, with power everything (including moonroof). PZEV means it is a Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle which is a vehicle that has zero evaporative emissions from its fuel system, has a 15 year (or at least 150,000-mile) warranty on its emission-control components, and meets SULEV tailpipe-emission standards. This vehicle category was created as part of a bargain with the California Air Resources Board (CARB), so that the automobile manufacturers could postpone producing mandated zero emission vehicles (ZEVs), which will require the production of electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Harman Kardon is a supplier of audio equipme...

I didn't have time to post last night, therefore I'm posting this a few days late as this occurred 2 days ago (Wed 5/30/12). I donated $50 to The Home Front Cares the other day. The Home Front Cares supports families of deployed troops in Colorado. They provide grants, energy assistance, casualty assistance, adaptive housing, vehicle modification, and welcome home programs. It was my good deed for the day. What did you do today?