Denver is a crooked city. I realize that this is quite a polemical statement but in the end, it’s very true. The Mile High City served as the hub for the Rocky Mountain mining camps in the late 19th century. The mills, factory’s and stockyards supported the labor intensive culture in this secluded area that now plays host to about 3 million people in it’s metro region. As a city that once revolved around the ever so vital tracks of its railroads, Denver’s streets are now awkwardly built around a grid that sits on a 45 degree angle.

A short stay for anyone from an east coast city will help you understand. Well, I take that back because I am now entering month four and I still find it hard to believe that things are so confusing. Sure, when you move here everyone brags about how “easy it is to get around”. Of course if you have lived here all of your life this is a rather relative statement. For someone like me who thrives off of logic, this is a tremendously frustrating city to navigate.

Imagine if you will, driving down any given street in the “D”. You’ve just left the grocery store and as you approach the next stop light you take a right hand turn onto a fairly busy street. Becoming tired of this direction by the time you approach the next light you decide to turn right again. After realizing you forget to pick up some bread, you opt to turn right again so that you can get back to the store. Gotcha!!!! This is a perfectly logical scenario in a city built on a normal grid. But if you can imagine a 45 degree grid, your car was heading in the opposite direction towards the next town by the time you took the 2nd turn. I mean it is absolutely infuriating at times and I can’t quite forgive the geniuses that set this whole thing up.

When I first started to navigate this place I would pass streets that I had just driven by ten minutes ago, all the while trying to figure out how on Earth that could be possible. Imagine if you will a blank sheet of paper. Most of the major “arteries” in Denver would run from the lower right hand corner of your paper all the way to the upper left corner of your sheet. The smaller streets tend to run north and south like you would find in a normal town. This creates all sorts of issues that I will not get into at this point because I am beginning to lose the will to discuss the entire matter.

Please don’t get the wrong impression. Denver is a wonderful city and Colorado itself has plenty left for me to see. The weather here is beyond beautiful and every morning I get to see the Rocky Mountains standing at attention in the background. Walking to the garage..mountains. Getting off of the train…mountains. Hitting a bucket of golf balls at the driving range…mountains. It’s a truly dramatic change from life on the island of Puerto Rico. The Mile High gets over 300 days of sunshine a year with an average annual precipitation of just 13 inches. Believe it or not…it’s not cold in Denver, really! The average snowfall is about 53 inches every winter season. That amounts to just a few snow storms in Connecticut.

My job with E*Trade is going better than I could have imagined and I am looking forward to the challenges they have laid out. Anyone that knows my habits will tell you that I am no stranger to hard work…I just prefer to do it when I get to it. With one car between the two of us, I take the Light Rail into downtown every morning. My alarm goes off at about 5:30, 6:00 and 6:15 (can’t stop hitting that snooze button) and I tend to role out of bed much colder than I was the previous night. Felicia tends to get hot and it is routine for her to crank the A/C in the middle of the night. This is a slight inconvenience but as of late it is not the only one I have encountered in the morning. Our HOA group in its infinite wisdom has decided to water the grass area just outside of our front door in the morning. Not every area of grass near our unit but unluckily just ours. That’s right… every morning I tuck my suit jacket under my left arm as I slam the front door closed and make a mad dash through, not one, not two, not three, but four different sprinklers that all seem to point directly at our door in a mocking gesture. The first week I actually stopped to look for the hidden cameras but to my dismay there were none to be found.

Luckily, I am completely dry most days by the time I arrive at the World Trade Center Denver where our office is located. I am one of three new hires for E*Trade’s local brick and mortar presence. They could not have brought three more different guys on board let me just tell you that right now. The funny thing is that we all get along like we have known each other for years (goes to show you that you should never judge a book by its binding). Tom is a family man from Nebraska in his early forties and has a wealth of entrepreneurial and real life experiences that he brings to the table. Clark is a 28 year old Mormon originally from Colorado but, like me, he has toured around a bit. After attending college in Utah he went on his mission in Australia, eventually taking a job in Wyoming before returning home to Denver. The three of us spent two weeks in California during our training just quizzing each other on the most ridiculously obscure moments in recent sports history.

This past week Clark invited me to his church on a weeknight to play basketball with some of his friends. Let me tell you…you have not lived until you have played 4 on 4 with seven Mormons. There is not a shred of trickery or deceit in their game. I think they had to apologize for giving head fakes on their defenders. There was a brief argument after every turnover but it wasn’t about trying to convince the other team that they didn’t touch it last, it was about trying to convince them that they did… very odd indeed. What was even more backwards was the fact that after making a basket the other team was given the ball. No “make it take it”, just an equal opportunity game of basketball (absolutely hilarious).

Outside of work life the two of us have continued to shape our plans for the upcoming nuptials. We have decided against a traditional wedding and will be hosting a small private ceremony for immediate family and friends before heading back to CT for Christmas. The idea is to figure out a way to celebrate with everyone once we get back to the east coast (sort of a “welcome home” party). This isn’t the most ideal situation for everyone but in the end, it was what we wanted. This is the no fuss; no stress planning process that we have opted to run with and things have been great so far.

I’ll keep you posted.

P.S. As of this morning our management office seems to have finally addressed our complaints about the 7 am sprinkler shower. We’ll see if it lasts. The next episode of Personal Pages is coming soon

Until Then!

Before I moved to Puerto Rico, I found myself just writing everywhere I went. I could no longer concentrate while in meetings or at work. The following is a sample of some of my thoughts as I would just write down how I felt on a pad. It’s funny because some of my favorite writings have come when I was supposed to be doing other things.

When the mind and heart has a lot to share things seem to just flow write off the tip of the pen. These selections out of my Personal Pages that I will be posting over the next few weeks have never been shared. But I guess now is as good a time as any….

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If I can put it down on paper maybe one day it will come true. My dreams, hopes and aspirations are long overdue. It’s my time to shine and rewind the tape that has been filming my life right back to the spliced piece giving me the headache and regret that I have sitting right here at this desk.

I’m trapped even though my cube only has three walls; it’s more like an invisible fence around my mind that cages freedom and self choice. But this is what I wanted. This is what my definition of success was walking down the aisle of the converted courtyard at my Alma Mater. It was one day where the usually dismal and scholastic feel of a small liberal arts school was transformed into a welcome area for family members and people that up until that point forgot why you went to school. Or maybe it was me who forgot why I went to school.

At this point I have more questions than answers. But that’s what my family always told me. “You sure do ask a lot of questions”. Yet, for me that was the only way to get the answers I needed. But at some point I stopped asking questions. I stopped wanting answers for the unresolved because in my mind I already had the solution. Little did I know that unlike school, there is no syllabus for life. There is no degree to attain besides the Batchelor of Reality. But some people feel like the longer they stay in school, the less they will have to deal with the reality of life. But what is real anyway?

My reality is different than yours and my current reality is different than what I really want. Sure, if I want it I can have it, as long as I understand that there are certain expectations to be understood. If I could sit myself down and ask myself what it is I want out of life I would have to respond by saying, “the most I can possibly get”. I want it all like Biggie Smalls said…”from the Rolex to the Lexus, getting paid was all I expected ”. But that’s only part of the answer. While I think that acquiring material items are important to attain the freedom and comfort I want out of life, I now believe that there is more. My 9-5 won’t help me become a better citizen, friend or brother. My job won’t define what my life stood for in the end and in fact it is true that I no longer want to follow the path laid out for me. I no longer accept the “traditional” school of thought when it comes to navigating my existence on this Earth.

Traditional in some cases merely implies that nothing has changed and that creativity, personality and self awareness need not be part of the equation. My heart pounds as it attempts to show me the right direction. Now it’s time for me to listen!