Rocky Mountain High

I am in Denver where the official snow ski season opened yesterday - and a few moments ago I settled a case that was set for a trial today. I didn't come into it as a trial lawyer but as a negotiator. My job was to cut a deal. I did.

This is a swing state and the political ads are all over the TV. I saw one large McCain sign and a bunch of smaller Obama yard signs. I read that Sen. Obama leads in normally GOP Colorado by 5 points.

This morning I sent out a Global American article on why no one should kill themselves over their falling 401k and the market. Too many are committing murder-suicide over their bank balance or foreclosure. I've lived through this below (Texas, in the 80's) and survived it, hence the article.

Bunny rabbits are a common sight through the parking lot of the motel where I'm staying, a few miles from the airport. A field abuts the property, along with two other hotels and a small diner --an oasis all by itself just outside town.

A half mile away, a single line of houses line a narrow road -- a lot of them new and for sale. The housing market is in the tank here too. It is beautiful blue skies backed by the Rocky Mountains in mid-October here. It sure beats looking at the Dow Jones Stock market.

Watch them at the airport. The Budget people at DIA sold me a tank of gas for $3.63 when the going rate per gallon in Denver is $2.99 for unleaded. The car had a huge ice scrapper in the drivers seat. Fortunately, I won't need it.

But it's not just at the airport here that people pull stuff. Last week an NTB store in Houston scammed me to buy brake calipers for a car that has just 40,000 miles on it - even claimed i had water in the brake fluid. All I wanted was new tires. The two other mechanics I showed it to said the rotor machining was rough and unprofessional - so not only was it expensive work, it wasn't well done. To their credit, the national HQ called me and offered to refund the cost of the calipers.

Heading out of here tomorrow.