Dam! Y2K Redux?

Here it is the second day of January and we are finding that the old year roared out with some interesting twists.

This morning Dennis and I went for a run together- which is a rare event anyway, but we met Connie, Tom, and Doug up at Maxwell Open Space parking lot and did a 10 mile run on the hills and over the dams at Horsetooth. I warmed up a little on the flats before we started so I got more than 10.

This is the best hill workout around, and there was almost no traffic today. Climbing up and down Dixon Dam, Soldier Canyon Dam, and Dam Hill was enough to get my legs screaming, after the 5K yesterday. I'll feel the effects of the last two days tomorrow for sure. It was 19 degrees when we started, but it warmed up nicely and there was almost no wind, which is unusual for this time of year.

Speaking of wind, the other day, December 30th, when we had the 75 mph gusts, a huge tree limb fell down and part of it broke off and impaled the roof of the woman cave. It's a good thing my neighbor told me about it yesterday or we wouldn't have known. That's a new roof, so it is still under warranty. I'll have to call on the roof tomorrow, before it snows again.

All we could see was this innocent looking branch. But it tore a fist sized hole through the roof, all the way through the boards under the shingles. There's no interior damage, fortunately, but we need to get it fixed before the next snow.

Then on December 31st, some time during the night, the hot tub died. Just croaked. No warning, nothing. I opened the lid on the morning of the 1st and there was nothing on the display. The water was cold. We tried the breakers, nothing. Dennis pulled the guts out. Nothing he could figure out. So I'll have to call the repairman again. He's like an old buddy now. This is going to be the third repair visit in the past year and a half. Might be time for a new hot tub. I hope not. We'll see what the bill looks like this time.

I'm starting to think that maybe Y2K arrived 12 years late and attacked our hot tub. Or maybe there's a hot tub virus going around. Anybody else have this problem? Or maybe it's the Mayan calendar, which predicted the end of the world for hot tubs in 2012.

The woman cave has further evolved to have a desk. I also picked up some simple bookshelves for $17 at what might be the last remaining K-Mart. And I've picked out the colors for the outside. It's almost warm enough in the afternoons to paint this week- supposed to be in the 60s, maybe even close to 70. We have crazy weather here, so we'll see. I'll have the repairmen out this week so I can pass the time by painting.

I picked a wild color for the front door, but a slightly more subdued tone for the siding. The trim will be white. I think it will look oh so cool. Can't wait!