A short post today, due to travel yesterday and a new project starting this morning. Nobody ever said running a consulting business was easy.
The drive from Denver to Ogden was interesting, as it frequently is this time of year. From Denver to Laramie was easy, with just a bit of snow starting from just south of the Wyoming border. But I-80 from Laramie to just past Rawlins was a mess – wet, slushy and slick, with several jackknifed tractor-trailers on some of the higher areas. Still, this northern route is frequently a safer bet this time of year than the southern route across I-70 to I-15, as that latter route takes you across several high mountain passes that can be treacherous in bad weather. The Wyoming route passes through high, open, rather desolate country that can see some nasty winds and drifts, but the altitude rarely pops up above 8000 feet or so.
Navigating the West in winter can be a tricky business.
But, all is done, Rojito handled the wintry roads with its usual aplomb, and here we are ensconced in an Ogden hotel room until Friday – when the return trip across the same route will hopefully see better conditions.
Stay warm, True Believers! Regular posts will resume tomorrow.
Looks like yr. obdt. will be heading back to work soon, and not in any of the anticipated/feared locations (Cleveland or Frisco.) No, it looks like the upcoming 3-6 month gig will be in a place I’ve worked before and loved – Ogden, Utah.
Why?
1) John Browning’s birthplace. Seriously, maybe some of that gun designer genius will rub off? If any True Believers happen to find themselves in Ogden, I highly recommend a visit to the Browning museum. The hand-made prototypes of world-changing guns like the 1911 and the Auto-5 alone are worth the visit.
2) Climate/location. 8 hours from home by Rojito, 90 minutes by air. Same time zone as the homestead. Pretty much the same mild winters, at least compared to the upper Midwest where I’ve spent the last two winters. Arrival will be too late for grouse hunting or much else, but rabbit seasons are open until end of February, so it may be worth taking a .22 along.
3) Scenery. My previous visit to Ogden got cut short before I could get a good look at the Great Salt Lake, a genuinely unique landmark in this area – and the Wasatch Mountains are a great place to spend a weekend bumming around.
4) Folks. Say what you will about Mormons, but in my experience they are some of the nicest, friendliest folks around – and there are enough gentiles in the Ogden area (gentile being the Mormon term for any non-Mormon) that I can get a beer if I want one.
Blue Monday Bonus!
So, it looks like a good gig coming up. It may lack some of the perks of other locations I’ve worked, like southern California’s salubrious climate and ample supply of the Feminine Aesthetic, or Japan’s great food, beautiful scenery and wonderful wackiness, or Minnesota’s incredible fishing, but all in all I’ll take Ogden.
Travel will probably happen in the next few days. And now that I’ve got my excitement about the new gig out in the open, regular news/commentary posts will return tomorrow at the latest.
Tomorrow evening we’ll be live-blogging as election results come in, with emphasis on our own Colorado elections but also notes on the national scene. Stay tuned.
Also, the road beckons; much as I enjoy these between-project intervals, most of the business is work on large, long-term projects. I have entered a bid on one such, a six-month project in the Bay Area.
As in, San Francisco. California.
Hoo boy. It’s a lovely old city with a lot of historical significance, but it’s also the epicenter of much of America’s more overt left-wing nutballery today. (See any of the sterling work done by PJMedia columnist Zombie for examples.)
So, assuming I end up on the roster for this project, it should be an interesting piece of work-tourism all the way around, especially after coming off of a year in deep-red northern Indiana.
But back to the election: Tomorrow is the big day, and it looks like the Party of Obama is set for another shellacking. Here’s the latest Senate map from RealClearPolitics:
Note that our own Colorado is in the tossup column, as is our old childhood stomping grounds state of Iowa, where Joni Ernst is widening her lead. A look at RCP’s no-tossup map lands both those and several others in the GOP column, which gives the Republicans a 52-seat majority in the Senate:
Personally I’m not counting out Kansas or North Carolina yet, either, and Louisiana may be a cliffhanger until January. But still, 52 seats is do-able for the GOP. A solid Republican majority sidelines daffy old Joe Biden as a potential Senate tie-breaker and will (or, at least, should) result in a tsunami of GOP bills headed for the President’s desk, forcing him to either shit or get off the pot.
We’ll find out tomorrow night. Stay tuned. It should be quite a ride.
Our thanks once again to The Other McCain for the Rule Five links, and we hope you enjoyed the vacation Rule Five posts. Las Vegas was, as usual, fine in limited doses, and much steam was blown off. Yr. obdt. is now in much improved state of mind and ready for more work.
Which is a good thing, as I find myself back in northern Indiana this morning for another on-site stint.
But I digress. Back to Las Vegas for a moment:
Vegas by Night.
Las Vegas is a place that is not quite like any other place in the United States, except perhaps (and only perhaps) Atlantic City, and never having been there I can’t really compare. But Vegas is a great place for:
Shows
Food
Gambling (if you’re into that)
Best of all – people-watching.
On shows, we went and saw KÀ, the Cirque Du Soleil show currently running at the MGM Grand. I recommend this how if you’re ever able to take it in – like most Cirque Du Soleil shows it is magnificent in scope and execution, with amazing acrobatics and a stunning soundtrack. We took it in on a Tuesday evening and the auditorium was only 2/3 full, making for a comfortable experience.
Food: Vegas used to be known for cheap, high-quality meals. The first time I went there the Strip was loaded with “Prime Rib, $3.99” signs, the objective being to draw you in for your gambling dollars. No longer. Eating there is expensive; you can enjoy all manner of food from hot dogs to the ubiquitous massive buffets to elite dining, but you’ll pay for all of it. If you’re on a budget, take a cooler and sandwich fixings to stretch your food dollar.
Gambling: I don’t. Mrs. Animal has a small fondness for penny slot machines, but keeps herself on a tight budget. This time she came home about $30 ahead, a nice little bonus.
And last but far from least: People-watching. I don’t just mean girls, although that’s certainly a high point. Las Vegas is a popular destination for people from all over the world, and you can find yourself in conversation with people from such disparate places as Australia, eastern Europe, China, Japan or (as Mrs. Animal and myself did this trip) Jordan – that last being a young Christian couple from Jordan who (wisely) decided it was time for people of their religious persuasion to GTFO of that area.
Vegas is a place I can take for four or five days, then I’m ready to leave. But in another two or three years, I’ll be ready to go back.
And now work beckons, so we now return you to your Monday, already in progress.
I find myself in northern Indiana once more, for what may be my last stint in this particular gig – unless they extend the contract, which they have the option to do.
Honestly, there are worse places – although having gone through a winter here and facing a summer, I’m reminded of the two reasons I left the upper Midwest where I grew up:
Earlier this year, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed a bill that more than doubled the tax credits available to film producers who come to the state. McAuliffe called it a big win for Virginia, since so many other states compete for Hollywood productions with special tax favors.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has secured a total of $1.2 billion in at least 260 special benefits over the years. Nike, Boeing, Alcoa and Intel got more than $2 billion each.
North Carolina promised Apple up to $370 million in benefits and an additional $255 million to Google to build data centers in the state.
Washington offered Boeing $8.7 billion in benefits to build the wings of its new jetliner in the state.
“Money is the barometer of a society’s virtue. When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion—when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing—when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors—when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you—when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice—you may know that your society is doomed. Money is so noble a medium that it does not compete with guns and it does not make terms with brutality.“
Have we come to this point? Has Ayn Rand been proved more prescient than we ever imagined?
