Are we in Europe?

One of the first things you'll notice in driving around Golden is the prominence of Roundabouts, primarily on South Golden Rd. I was pretty ambivalent about them at first. It's nice to not have to stop at lights when the roads are empty, but it can be kind of a pain to cross as a pedestrian if traffic is busy. Mainly, I assumed that the reason for their presence was as much aesthetic as anything else.

I was pleasantly surprised by an article in the Golden Informer -- our city government newsletter -- that detailed the benefits of roundabouts. If you want to read it, the article is on page 7 of http://www.ci.golden.co.us/files/Informer-July2008_LowResWeb.pdf

Basically roundabouts have 2 main benefits over traffic signals:

1) They reduce car speed through an intersection
2) They pretty much eliminate the possibility of a T-Bone collision

The proof is in the pudding. From the article cited above: "The average reduction in accidents after a roundabout replaces a traffic signal is 35% to 60%. On South Golden Road, there has been an accident reduction of 66%, and an injury reduction of 95%."

Wow.

Who needs Round Up?

Thank you little bunny for eating the weeds that grow in our driveway cracks.

Why did the Rocky Mountain Veal cross the road?

To get to our next-door-neighbor's back yard.

A mule deer with two fawns has taken residence next door -- actually in the backyard next door. My grandfather fought a life-long battle with deer who wreaked havoc on his garden, but our gardening is pretty limited right now (a few basil plants, a few chard) so we're enjoying the company. Buddy and Dan the dog, eat your hearts out.

Mutton Bustin'

Golden’s big community festival – Buffalo Bill Days – happened this past weekend. We checked out the music on Friday and Saturday nights, ate at the Firemen’s pancake breakfast on Saturday morning, and attended the community worship service on Sunday. (To our friends back in Texas, the band on Saturday night was the Dallas-based country act 1100 Springs, and they were pretty darn good.)

The highlight of the weekend was mutton-bustin’. For the uninitiated, this is an event where kids between 40 and 60 pounds don long-sleeved shirts, blue jeans, flak jackets, and helmets and then attempt to ride sheep – sheep that are rather unenthusiastic about the prospects of being ridden by 40 to 60 pound children. There were a few nasty falls and more than a few tears shed, but I don’t think any of the kids or the sheep were irreparably harmed. Mostly, it was hilarious.

Trivia and Web page of the week

The first of a continuing series.

Trivia:

Here's a bar bet you'll always win: Who ran the first 4-minute mile?
Answer: Derek Ibbotson. It's well known that the first runner to break the 4-minute mile barrier was Roger Bannister, but Ibbotson was the first to record a time of 4:00.00 minutes in competition.

Website:

If you're really trying to pinch pennies, you can compare gas prices before you head to the pump.

http://www.gasbuddy.com/

The Golden Bowl -- Ayes and Buts

Elaine and I have been spending a lot of time at the bowling alley down the street. We’ve actually only bowled once, but the Golden Bowl has so much more to offer. As the picture in the post below indicates, the Golden Bowl has a bar with some seriously cheap beer. They have a couple of crummy pool tables, a dart board, a juke box, a free-to-use ping pong table, and good-natured karaoke on Friday and Saturday nights. There is also a surprisingly good Chinese restaurant inside the Golden Bowl – sort of like Chinese food at a mall, but a solid step up.

But the real reason we’ve been spending so much time at the bowling alley is that they have free Texas Hold’em on Tuesday and Friday nights. I’ve never bought a lottery ticket, much less been to a casino – I’ve always been afraid that I might like gambling a little too much if I ever started – but I generally enjoy just about any form of competition. Free Hold’em is actually a pretty dumb game; when folks are playing with imaginary money, there isn’t much skill involved. Nonetheless, we’ve had our share of success – 1 first place finish for Elaine, 2 firsts and a third for me – which gets paid off in bowling alley gift certificates. More importantly, it’s been a good way to meet local folks from all walks of life. I hope that as we become further integrated into Golden we find better things to do that playing free poker on a regular basis, but it seems likely that the Golden Bowl will continue to be a regular fixture on our social calendar.

Amusing Anecdote:

Poker gets played at 2 or 3 tables of ten players and a dealer. Brian is our preferred dealer, but they’re all pretty nice. One dealer is an attractive woman named Jolene.

One night Brian was complaining that there weren’t many players interested in sitting at his table. Barbara, one of our favorite compatriots, remarked that the younger guys wanted to sit close to Jolene – for obvious reasons. Barbara went on to lament that the guys probably weren’t even noticing Jolene’s best physical feature, her big brown eyes. At that point, Shawn, a recent transplant from North Carolina, drawled, “I’ve noticed them; I’m an eyes man.......

eyes and butts.”

Good times.

College Kids + Giant Brewery =