Independence Day and a Weekend Getaway

I arrived in Colorado about a month ago and began my summer work as a budget analyst for the City of Loveland.  Its not glamorous work, but its been a good experience so far.

Let's face it though, you don't want to hear about budgets, interdepartmental politicking, or even the latest gossip from the office.  You want to know what I've been doing for fun.

I decided to take the Independence Day weekend and visit friends in Utah.  At first, I didn't know exactly why but it didn't matter.  I was hitting the road!

I flew out of work Friday the 1st of July and soon the miles became a blur.  North central Colorado and southern Wyoming were beautiful and green still because of the extra snow and rain.  I wouldn't mind putting all my cares behind me and settling down on a ranch out there.  Wide-open spaces, blue skies, and tall mountains - it calls to you.  Maybe this is what so many Americans felt and drove them to settle the West.

I'll spare you all the details of my trip.  Suffice it to say that there was a lot of closure for me.  I had felt remiss that I hadn't opened up more to roommates and friends, hadn't been as friendly as I could have been, and maybe left an impression I would be ashamed of.  I suppose some folks don't worry what others think of them, and to a degree you shouldn't, but I valued these people's respect.  I deal in the currency of respect, you see.  That's all a man really has in reality.  Money comes and goes.  Family can be near, far, live, or dead.  But a man's legacy, his pride, the respect he has earned from good, honest people - men, women, children - this is the most fulfilling thing he can achieve.

I had the opportunity to chat with friends and former roommates between swimming and other things, and came to the conclusion that I didn't fail, that I'm actually at least a decent guy.  Well, imagine that...

I tried to get a group to go down to the Freedom Festival's hot air balloon exhibition on the 4th but it ended up being just Dave Horan and I.  It was cloudy and windy, and, as a result, they only inflated the dozen-or-so balloons.  A strong gust of wind managed to blow most of the balloons over and they all decided that Mother Nature's hint was a good one.  The Darth Vader balloon was by far the most enjoyable.

Dave and I had the IHOP "Red, White, and Blue" special at IHOP and then I hit the road again.

About 100 miles into the trip back to Loveland and a mile or so southwest of Evanston, Wyoming, my engine heat went through the roof and I pulled the car off the the shoulder.  I got it towed into Evanston and, through my vast knowledge and experience with cars, deduced that it was the alternator belt.  What tipped me off, you ask?  Well, it was gone.  I figured that meant I should got buy one and put it one.  I walked through town to the Auto Zone, bought the belt, read the manual they had at the shop, and figured I'd take a crack at it.

I have a decent tool kit in my trunk and started working on it, but lacked the confidence to just follow the instructions.  A guy named Kurt came on over from the bar that was within eyesight and said he had a mechanic friend that could help me out.  Sure enough, his friend came on over and we/he worked on it for about an hour.  Maybe it was one of those blessings in disguise - because I learned how to change my belts.  Also, I learned a secret mechanic's technique - if you swear at the part, bolts, nuts, etc. it works out a lot better.

My mechanic friend wouldn't take any cash and he was just a decent guy that loved the small town.  It was a great lesson on the goodness of Americans.  We're not shmucks, lazy and fat freeloaders, or welfare-sucking or shameless hillbilly ignoramuses.  We're honest, hard-working, God-fearing good people.

I got in around 9:30 that night just as all the fireworks starting going off.