Recession Special, originally uploaded by aturkus.

This economy sucks.

Many people out there are trying to act like it isn’t that bad.   Bull puckey.  I believe the real expert I talked to the other day…. my cab driver set the record straight for me. It was on this past Friday night.  I had just rolled into the back a green and white hybrid taxi cab of Metro Taxi (Thanks for going green Metro, but don’t stop at a few). I should have known something was different when the “ring ring” of my phone indicating my taxi’s arrival came only a few scarce minutes after I placed the call.  I mean this was fast service. Remember, this was on a Friday night. Usually you can call a cab with time to spare to finish getting ready, have a glass of wine, watch the last few minutes of 30 rock that you recorded on your DVR, or even take the dog out for a final squirt before they usually arrive.  In fact you usually have to make that insecure “did you forget about me call” at least once, which coincidently I believe is the real time that they dispatch the cab.   But not this night my friends.  They were ready and waiting.  Here is why…

“This is my worst Friday ever” the cab driver shared with me. He was pretty noncholant about it. “I thought last Friday was my worst Friday ever, and then this week it got worse” he continued. “This economy must be keeping everyone home”. It was then that we passed tons of people walking to the Pepsi Center. “Or maybe they are just driving”.  That might be scary if they are still out at 2 am.

Whatever their transportation plans are, straight from the cabbies mouth we are seeing the slowdown in the simplest things. I stopped into the Chang (PF Chang) for for a quick lunch while downtown and the place was, well not empty, but lets just say “strangely table friendly” I could pretty much sit wherever I wanted, lay out whatever I was reading, and be taken care of by the readily available team there. Mind you this was a weekday, lunches have consistently been packed on weekdays downtown. (Side note, weekends are a great time to eat at the Chang and avoid lines). Again the feedback I got from my server was “It’s been reeeeeeaaaaaaallllllly slow”. nuff said.

The last omen might not be the economy but a troubled season. I decided to save a little money myself and put a pair of club level Bronco’s tickets for the always popular Raiders game on stubhubb. At the beginning of the season I was all pumped up for the game, now I think I’d be just as happy to sit cozy on the couch with a my own snacks and beverages. Everyone said “those tickets will sell in a snap”. They haven’t. I look and prices are dropping. This one you can’t blame on just the economy, but the Broncos don’t need any more heat.

And for those of you out there, you know who you are, who say “Don’t say the economy is bad, it will scare people into acting in a way to make the economy worse”.  The cat is out of the bag.  Lets just realize it sucks, laugh about it, deal with it, and move on.  Making it a big bad scary thing that you can’t say does make people act a great deal differently.  Treating it like the a zit on the face of life that will come and go makes it a little easier to bear.  Sure, it’s ugly, but it will go away.

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By the way it is either sad or funny what the lowest (0 votes at the time of this post) ranked cutback item is.

Family in Commons Park on the 4th

What makes a neighborhood a great neighborhood to raise a family? Which criteria matter the most? Would you say it was the school system, the public parks and playgrounds, or simple safety. What about the value of a dollar towards your real estate, because let’s face it people usually make the transition from [Read more →]

The Police at Red Rocks

Last night I had the opportunity to take a walk down memory lane. It was back to a time when I cruised around my small Ohio town in a 1974 forest green Beetle that had been outfitted with a high tech Sony Cassette system that fed tunes to the monster woofers in the back (supported on a home built plywood panel) and small Boston Acoustics cut and placed into the side boards. The stereo probably cost as much as the car which I had bought in Baltimore while living one of many summers eating Chesapeake Blue Crabs smother in Old Bay, Phillips Harborplace Oysters, and sliced fresh tomatoes with a touch of salt and pepper. But I needed great tunes in that car for it’s 8 hour drive back to Ohio. And one of the mixed tapes that surely be playing on that road trip would have included classic Elvis Costello and the Police, along with a myriad of other artists of that time. [Read more →]

So yesterday I posted about the slap that oil gave our economy. I have a different question for Denver today. Fortunately, the Denver economy has been stronger than many parts of the country (hey, we rock).

That being said, there are still some things that affect us. How many of you are cutting back, if at all, and what things do you pick to cut back on? I am genuinely curious. Do we keep our dinners out and cut back on gas? Do we stop shopping but still drive? Do we cancel our vacations or do we splurge and not worry because it’s all cyclical? You tell me. I don’t need to remind everyone that by stopping our spending we hurt the economy. Easier said than done.

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Oh, and here are a few links

• 8 Ways to Cut Back Without Sacrificing
• Save Money on Utilities
• Daily Fuel Economy Tip

Quick, what bills are these?

In 2002, the American Council of the Blind began a lawsuit against the U.S. Government claiming that our existing currency discriminates against the Blind or the visually impaired.

In 2006 the decision came in in favor of the American Council of the Blind. The Treasury Department Appealed.

This month in 2008, the Appelate ruling is in and the decision stands! The American Council of the Blind wins for now.

I applaud them, but it’s not over yet. The Treasury has 90 days to appeal or as for Supreme Court review.

Before I go into this topic let me discuss my bias and existing point of view. [Read more →]

Wahoo!!! The Writers Guild Strike is expected to be over today and the great shows should be back, including my favorite 30 Rock with Tina Fey.

But don’t get too hopeful yet. According to the New York Times it will take weeks (maybe about 4) for the shows to get caught up. [Read more →]

One thing you will learn very quickly about living in the city. You can’t grill out the way you used to. No more big propane tank feeding a gas fired fury of heat to sear up a delicious steak or to toast up a salmon plank. Nope, the fire code for Denver says that you cannot put your mega grill on your balcony.

So if you love the Downtown lifestyle and live in a multi dwelling unit (and don’t think that is a high rise only, that is three or more units) you will not be allowed to grill out unless you work within the rules. So lets cover the rules first [Read more →]

Is too much of our life about the money?

The New York Times this past Sunday had an article about how the millionaires out in silicon valley just don’t feel rich anymore. Apparently, once you make $2 million, or $5 million, or even $10 million you still feel the need to work 60, 70, 80 hour weeks to make sure that you can keep up.

For some folks the money goes into bigger, and bigger, and bigger houses. Or faster cars, expensive gems, boats, trips, etc.

Basically, you will always spend what you make and need to make more.

That is so sad. And yet I seem to be spending what I make. I make more than I did when I was just out of college, but I don’t seem to have a great deal of extra. Isn’t it amazing that people just keep finding new things they “need” that they would never dream of years ago under a different tax bracket.

I have to wonder why it is that we just keep buying more and more instead of saving more and more. Are material items really that much more important than our free time, our ability to travel perhaps for a year and see the world? Do we really need the 10,000 sf house and the six figure car if our budgets grow. Is it keeping up with the jones.

Don’t get me wrong, I have my toys that I buy with extra money. But I don’t mind having a new scooter when my car has been paid off for a year. I really don’t feel the need to have the newest and greatest automobile. I do, however, want the coolest blue tooth ear bud for my iphone.

But given the opportunity to have a couple million in income I don’t believe any amount of peer pressure would make me choose to burn through it as quick as I could. I would like to think I would buy more time. More free time, more flexibility, and more freedom.

Check out the article and let me know what you think. Do you believe you will always be spending what you earn, regardless of how high that income goes? If you say you wouldn’t, let me ask you this…. are you currently making more than you made 5 or 10 years ago and are you spending it all? If so, what makes you think it would change?

Perhaps it was meant to be a sob story, but it is a bit more of a reality check. Here is my advice for you future millionaires who might get trapped into working 80 hours a week. Stop buying stuff.

Duh, and yet not the easiest thing to do. What does that say about our culture.

Here is that NYT article [Read more →]

Last night the board voted on the decision to do Electric rail or Bio Diesel. Electric won (Wahoo!!) I think it will be cleaner, less pollution, and allow us for more options in terms of powering the lines for the future. Do it right the first time has always been my favorite plan. Plus, and of course I am only offering my opinion, the possibility of electric gives us future choices for how we generate the electricity we need. Solar, wind or something else may be the future power source that runs across these lines. I like possibilities.
Here is the article for you to read from [Read more →]

Why is this person so happy. Because while it is dumping rain outside and other poor souls are driving with white knuckles fighting traffic, the elements, and sleep she is cozy in her train cabin sipping a drink, reading a book, and watching the beautiful outdoors go by.

This is what we need from Denver to Vail (With a stop in Summit of course). I just drove down from another mountain excursion this morning and while I was blown away as always by the view, I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to have been sitting and reading my paper while making the journey.

And this was a beautiful uncrowded day. But when I went up on Sunday I-70 was PACKED with cars heading down. Nothing compared to the ski season but certainly another reason to get on a train.

Just picture this. You head over to Union Station and grab a nice warm cup of coffee, a newspaper or book, and some of your best buds. You load all of your stuff onto your train car and grab a wonderful cabin with benches and curl up. The snow outside is dumping and the weather is freezing. The roads are going to be icy, if open at all. But you will make the trip to Vail in bliss surrounded by laughter, warmth and friends.

When you are hungry or thirsty you eat and drink. When you have to use the bathroom you do (but leave your cabin for this). When you are tired you sleep. You are safe.

The train might even have a dining or bar car where you can grab a bite or a drink. The folks going to and from the mountains might be the perfect audience to make this work. Or who knows what other luxury is possible. Perhaps a massage after hours of pow pow skiing or rock hopping biking.

Or maybe the train simply has seats that look out the mountains and allow all of these comforts with gorgeous views. Either way, it is a better experience than driving in a car.

And would you like to know what makes it even better? If it is planned out right we can

1: Promote alternative transportation

2: Reduce many many carbon footprints (my biggest violation is that drive to and from the mountains)

3: Make it a fun, fun journey for many people.

So why am I bringing this up again? Because I want to get started with planning, designing, and more before we go and add another lane of traffic to I-70. Or at the bare minimum we can try and send a message that we support this direction and promote the idea that it might happen (hopefully sooner rather than later).

And yes, I know there are challenges. But those challenges become greater every day that we continue doing short term solutions such as expanding lanes. Let’s support a long term solution with environmental responsibility.

Plus it will be more fun. And just to see if there is an interest out there please show your support at this ipetition here. Maybe it will even show enough support to encourage a private investment firm to get involved as discussed in the Denver Post. It doesn’t matter who does the train, what matters is folks get out of their cars.
Pass it on!!

Here is the scoop from when it was voted down from High Speed Monorail

Colorado I-70: state says highway, not monorail (1/13/05)
Denver, Colorado. Colorado transportation officials are sticking to their belief that a high-speed monorail is not the way to solve highway congestion from Denver to Vail. Their vision is for more pavement, by widening Interstate 70 through the busy mountain corridor. Last month the state released a draft environmental review that favors widening I-70, while rejecting both a high-speed monorail or a conventional rail line as too costly. In the first of ten public hearings on the I-70 mountain corridor study, almost 200 people showed up Wednesday to voice their opinion. Most of them favored monorail and said CDOT’s idea to widen the highway will be outdated when completed by 2025 as proposed. A plan for a Colorado High-Speed Monorail using inverted-T rail technology lost steam when Colorado voters turned down money for a test track in 2002. That proposal was described derogatorily as a “Disneyland ride” by Governor Bill Owens, which helped sway voters against the ballot measure.

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