Whiteout on the runway

My next weekend trip supposed to take me to Seattle, Washington. What I didn't take in account was something much closer home then the far north-west of the United States... the Coloradan weather.
As a rule of thumb you can say: every time when you least expect it or really don't need it a blizzard pulls in. Regardless which season :o)

Even though it was just one of the minor spring blizzard we had so far it was enough to bring the entire air traffic to a squeaking hold for that day. And my plane was delayed by 4 hours... with an additional half an hour waiting on the runway to get the deicing. Oh joy. I finally arrived at my hotel at 1 AM. Oh well... at least I made it! And the very next morning I was ready to explore Seattle... that's what I call dedication ;-)

The L word at the big X

April 15th is traditionally the tax day over here in the States. And it seems like everybody is once again surprised by the upcoming deadline to finish their income tax returns. But this year my company also had a surprise up their sleeve. After having their last 'workforce adjustments' in June of last year we knew that there are new clouds on the horizon once again. On Monday we knew already that something big is going down and we were right...

The official numbers are 6% reduction... most of them in Europe (Ireland got badly hit). For more information just read the official statement. Anyhow... I got 'adjusted' as well... which is really a strange feeling. I am glad going through that at least once in my lifetime but I would love to leave it at that. At least we had a very nice layoff party at the end of this day... and they even put a lucky shamrock into my Guinness... for good luck I guess :-)

And I also had a very nice layoff dinner with my roommates at Joe's Crab Shack... lucky enough Dani was working here before so she could order the 'proper stuff' for us.

Well after nearly 6 years with the big X it is time to say goodbye. Best of luck to my remaining colleagues... they will need it in the coming months. I still feel that I got the better side of the deal! So long...

What is a... roundabout?

Coming from Ireland where roundabouts are a quite common sight at your daily commute I was surprised to see that the US went an entirely different way when it comes to traffic control. Traffic lights are more common here than anywhere else I went so far. Even in Germany it is easier to step over a roundabout from time to time ;-) But in several communities over here you can find them if you look hard enough...

Interesting is how different towns and cities explain those to the public over here. One of the more innovative ways I found in Steamboat Springs... a 'traffic circle' apparently is a little one way street spanning around a little circle... or simply a roundabout :-P

Rocky Mountains Oysters

Well... one story remains from our Rocky mountain trip I didn't mention here yet: Rocky Mountains Oysters. Well... I'll not tell you what those are actually are (just in case you want to try them anytime soon and not to spoil the surprise for you) but to be honest now... so far I thought they are a myth or at least something put together for messing around with tourists ;-)

But they are real! It is a real dish served in real restaurants here and enjoyed by real locals and real (unknowing) tourists! And for what they are they are not too bad at all. I was surprised!

And as you can see... we survived to tell the story! Try them on your next trip to Colorado yourself!

Steamboat Springs

The last part of our journey took us to Steamboat Springs which is a little ski resort in the far north of Colorado. World famous for their champagne powder snow which they got plenty from the last weekends blizzard. Of course we were not really interested in skiing but more in their local hot springs and hiking trails. Somewhere on this picture on the right you can see the famous Fish Creek falls... somewhere below all the snow that is.

Unfortunately it wasn't all fun and games... and somebody stole my camera while visiting the local museum :-( Oh well... it could have been much worse I guess... at least we were able to take some pictures with other cameras for instance... After a long and intensive discussion with Mr. Lincoln on that bench I felt much better... interesting enough he wasn't saying too much. I guess a good president is also a good listener :o)

But we still had a great vacation up in Steamboat Springs... a very nice place which I am sure to see again soon.

This concludes our long weekend trip throughout the Rockies! Thanks for the fantastic time I had, Christine.

Hanging Lake Hike

But on the second day of our vacation the streets had already cleared up which gave is the chance for a 'little' hike... to the Hanging Lake. This is already a quite challenging hike in the summer time but as you remember from my last post, we had a blizzard over here which added a few levels of difficulty in form of ice and snow. So this 'little' hike of 30 mins each way turned out to be a bit longer...

In fact around 3 to 4 times longer. So we were counting the numbers of bridges to cross... in the picture above you can see number 4 of 7. But the reward was astonishing enough: this green crystal clear lake framed by the white of ice and snow. Fantastic! I am sure to come back the next time in the summer time though ;-)

And here is the Hanging Lake exploration party 2008: Christine who took the exploration lead, Jasmina who kept an open eye for bears and mountain lions from her vantage point and myself who was there just for his good looks I guess :o)

But our adventure continued so stay tuned!

Glenwood Springs

My next weekend trip took me once again up the Rocky Mountains. Christine was visiting from Germany and after staying in Colorado for more then 3 years, she felt a bit homesick ;-) So I took two days off and we went up the mountains heading to Glenwood Springs. A pity though that a major blizzard (the last one for this season?) pulled in at the very same weekend...

I wasn't really worried but my colleagues were... so I borrowed a shuffle, starter cables and snow chains of Thomas and filled my car with food, water and cat litter. Yes... cat litter! Apparently it is very good for getting some traction between snow and tires when getting stuck! Interesting what kind of things you learn moving to a different country ;-)

But as you can see on the pictures... it was absolutely necessary to be prepared even though we didn't have any troubles getting to Glenwood Springs which is a three hour drive from Denver... over there though we got snowed in on Saturday. So we visited the nearby caves which had a constant temperature of 55 F (13 C) which were really nice and cosy with all the snow around us ;-)

The end of winter wonderland

What did I say in my last post? In a few days we'll have a BBQ on the porch again? Well... that's how Colorado is. One day you have warm temperatures and sunshine, then you have a blizzard pulling in leaving us with 17 inch of snow and a state shutdown for the day and the next morning everything is thawing again. The end of a winter wonderland.

Which kind of amazes me is how quickly all that is happening. Even though the temperatures are well below freezing the sun comes out and melts the snow in no time. At around noon the streets were cleared and the remaining water was steaming (!) off... look at this picture! Amazing... you have to love the Coloradan weather ;-)

Whiteout in Colorado

When I went to bed at midnight there was not even one snowflake in the air. The entire day I was running around in my T-Shirt. The previous weekend was even better... sunshine and temperatures in the mid 70s (21+ C).
When the weather forecast issues a blizzard warning once again I didn't really take it seriously. Well the last blizzard warning on Monday just missed us by a few hundred miles and hit Wyoming instead. What can happen to us... in March, right?

Well the answer is simple... a foot of snow (30 cm) in less then six hours. Enough to shut down all highways around us and making the daily commute a nightmare for most of us. Working for a high tech company has definitely advantages... we could simple stay in and work from home instead... and missing out on the fun on the freeway. Oh well.

Interesting is that blizzard warning is still in effect till tomorrow... not speaking about the temperature drop to freezing 19 F (-7 C). Tomorrow's commute could be fun too!

And finally I saw some proper white outs... with so much snow in the air that you have difficulties to spot your neighbors house across the street!

This is Colorado, man! And I am sure that in 3 days we will have BBQ's on the porch again :-)

Happy St Paddy's Day

It's once again this time of the year when we all start wearing green, watching parades and having (sometimes green) pints of Guinness. Even the local television station reported from the greenest holiday in Denver... the connection they made to how good environmental wise this particular holiday is I really couldn't make myself. Oh well... that's what you call Zeitgeist I guess.

On the other hand we had a fantastic parade downtown Denver. To make it more accessible for everyone (because Paddy's Day is not a national holiday over here) we had the parade already last weekend.

And what a parade that was: 4 hours of marching bands, pipe bands, Irish dancers, horses, lamas, floats and even Denver's mayor which I barely noticed among all other politicians. He also wore a green scarf :o)

But of course it is all about the Irish heritage and I am still amazed about how many Irish dancing schools are in and around Denver.

And about how many Americans which think that wearing a kilt is typical Irish ;-)

But we also had plenty (stereo-)typical American floats like a Native American Pow-Wow, cowboys herding cattle and of course Ronald McDonnald. I still wonder were the King from Burger King was this year ;-)

And like the last three years the Star Wars crowd was there again Which is really funny to see on St. Patrick's Day I think: First you have the marines, the young marines and then a crowd of people dressed in old uniforms (like world war or civil war uniforms) marching... followed by a bunch of Stormtroopers in white :-) I guess in this stage it is now part of the American culture... like the bunch of people dressed up in Stargate (TV series) uniforms who followed ;-)

But all that matters is having a good time: HAPPY PADDY'S DAY to all of you!