Friday, July 27, 2007

Official Checks.

I have one- from my bank- made out for a large amount of money- to my old boss.

Tomorrow at 8am- D and I will pick up a cargo van and drive four hours to where my old boss now lives- and be done with this whole thing.

By which I mean we'll both sign a contract- I'll give her money- and she'll give me a great deal of property (hence the cargo can).


The check isn't for the largest amount of money I've ever held in one hand- but it certainly is the largest amount of money I've given over without some certain guarantee of equitable exchange.

While almost half of these funds are for concrete assets worth a certain amount of money- the other half is for things much less easily accounted. What is the value of a name- a web address- a design- a way of doing things- a reputation???

While I'm certain I've calculated its value, to me, accurately- I'm still exchanging certain money for uncertain certainties in my head.

I'm certain I can effectively run this business. I'm certain I have ideas that will grow it. That I can find others who will work with me- to do the things I can't all do myself. And that the less obvious assets that I'm buying can be put to uses, by me, the products of which will far exceed the value of what I'm paying.

But those certainties in my head- are still, in the larger world- certainly uncertainties.



I've now certainly used the derivatives of "certain" far too many times.

All I need to do now is sign my name and initial where indicated.

Friday, July 20, 2007

2:33 minutes

My brother called a short while ago.

Me- Hello
Brother- Hey- uh- is it your birthday today???
M-Yeah
B- Oh- uh- Happy Birthday then.
M- Thanks
B- Hey- I'm buying a Mercedes too


Then we discussed what kind- and that he was on his way to get plates for it. He asked if mine was "like drivable" (which it is). And then we parted ways.

It took an entire two minutes and 33 seconds.

It's the most I've talked to him in months- I felt special.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Secondly-

I forgot to mention- Crested Butte also had mad huge Alpine Columbine- on crack (aka Miracle-Grow)- no pictures though...


and the last Harry Potter book comes out in three days...


and the business purchase is on hold for the moment as I wait to see if the old owner can handle a reasonable non-compete.

Firstly-

Crested Butte was just as beautiful as I remember it. At first appearing quaint- until you realize all that charm is strategically staged- in a lot of new buildings being specifically built to coordinate with the older ones.

Still delightful- but a tidge out of our price range.

In comes Silverton. Everyone should move to Silverton- but only after I've moved there- so I'll still be able to afford a house.


As I explained it in an e-mail to a friend-

"There is nothing in Silverton- except some abandoned mines, pretty old buildings, and an extreme ski area (extreme mtn bike area a few months a year) and a few B and B's. The state of Colorado has actually declared it one of about a dozen "Enterprise Zones" where they'll give you tax breaks if you start a business there. It's the only town in the county- the county has a population of 540.

It's situated between two passes, both above 10,000 feet. So every once in a while you'll have a day or two between January-March where you can't leave the town in either direction. The average temperature in winter at night is negative 20 to 20 degrees. Winter day is negative 20 to 60 degrees. Summer night is 20 to 40 degrees and summer day is 20 to 80 degrees.

However- it's only 50 miles to Durango- which gives you someplace to buy groceries (tourists take an old narrow gauge train from Durango to Silverton- which supplies the town with tourists from 11:15 to 3:30 pm everyday during the summer months).

Oh wait I forgot!!! In good Colorado tradition- it does have it's own micro-brewery :)"


It also has a Barbershop Music Festival (Telluride's Bluegrass Festival can eat its heart out). And possibly best yet- its small newspaper has a snarky backpage called The Caboose where they quote articles from 1898 and the like.


So- why don't you all just e-mail what size place you're looking for and I'll start figuring out who's going to live where- and don't worry- there's no shortage of housing- 2/3 of the town is for sale. (Including their classic old stone hotel from 1882- the one on the corner, with shops on the ground floor- you know what I mean- there's one of these in every old frontier town... though not Crested Butte oddly enough... and it's only 3 million- What a Steal!!!)





Okady- well. Anyway- this is my favorite picture of the "War Council". We were sitting around camp- and all of a sudden one of the boys mentioned he was getting out a map to look at the race course- and next thing you know there are four ladies sitting by themselves, and five boys running giddy over to look at the map- this is the view the ladies had of the whole affair-

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Humphreys

I'd like everyone to think really hard about just how large this flower is... my hands aren't tiny little girl hands...





They had superb bright yellow interior petals with stark, clean white outsides.

I think columbine are the only flowers that are as pretty from the back as they are from the front. Even when not talking about flowers- that's a hard statement to make about most things...


I liked the contrast of yellow and blue.

From our hike today.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Getting in gear-

Oh no- not in regards to Selma Lee- dear me- she's enjoying being neglected... I swear.

However- I did attend my first Spin class last night. Presumably the first of many as I begin my laze to blaze transformation for TransIowa. I guess since D outed me already there's no harm in admitting it... I intend to line up for TransIowa '08 or v4.0??? One of these days I'm going to have to start one of those insipid riding blogs, where I do nothing put talk about how much my legs hurt, and how my home trails are cooler than everybody else's- bonus points for pictures (but everyone who doesn't live in Alaska always losses the unannounced, but none-the-less important photo contests)... no really- neither are they insipid, nor am I going to start writing one :)


In more exciting news (does this demonstrate a bad priority list...) I've reached an agreement with my previous employer to purchase her business. There are some legalities that need to be worked out- but the price and assets have been settled on. Now to do the fun part- start the freakin' business.

Anyway- Dave can't make a joke of my non-existent company anymore- and I'm officially declaring myself Self-Employed- take that.



Thank you world- please come again.