Jefferson County, Colorado Fair & Festival

The Jefferson County Fair & Festival got into full swing this weekend. I've been a resident of this grand & glorious area of Colorado for over twenty years and I'd never paid a visit...until today

Like most every county fair the Jeffco Fair & Festival has a large array of attractions for visitors and participants, from a wide variety of food trucks...

...to a far better than expected Jazz-R&B-Funk-Rock-Blues band

And, of course, animals big and small

There are a number of talent competitions and challenges on the schedule too, such as:

Mutton Bustin' 

Cake decoratin'

Arts & Crafts shows and displays

And my favorite, pie eatin'

There are also pony rides and fantastic fun games for the kids...

Many more animals, some of them friendly, some not so much 

Even a playground for adults!

Quite a bit to enjoy, and more (you know, like a rodeo and stuff), all for just a $5.00 entrance fee (13 and up - kids 12 and under get in free).

Late 1960's, Early 1970's Sylvania Electronics Product Catalog Part 4

The last of the catalog. Everything electronic you could ever need to get into the swing of things...in 1972, give or take a few years.

Late 1960's, Early 1970's Sylvania Electronics Product Catalog, Part 3

Why of why am I still putting these pages up?

Posterity my friends, posterity.

BTW, pages 11,12, 13 & 14 are missing, so this post begins with page 15.

What kind of monster takes pages 11,12,13 & 14 from a catalog?

The worst kind.

Late 1960's, Early 1970's Sylvania Electronics Product Catalog, Part 2

Here it is, part two of the Sylvania Electronics Catalog. There are plenty of unintentionally funny bits in this little slice of history, such as the "walnut grained vinyl on wood composition" and the "extra-long 14" coiled cable".

Late 1960's, Early 1970's Sylvania Electronics Product Catalog, Part I

Found an almost complete Sylvania Electronics Product Catalog from either the late 1960's or the early 1970's the other day. An actual year of publication could not be located on the booklet, but the styling of the equipment screams that era.

I'll put 5 pages a day up for the next 4 days for everyone to enjoy...

The Distorted And The Dispositional

I love to play trivia games - mainly because I'm old, and trivia games allow me to be involved in competition and not wake up every morning of the following week feeling like I slept in a wine press. 

Unlike, say, an old man pick-up basketball game. 

Plus, I win a lot.

Unlike, say, in old man pick-up basketball games.

There are people who think I'm smarter than I am based upon how good I am at answering trivia questions.

The truth is I just have a weird memory for random crap and that's all there is to it.

Oh sure, sometimes I connect a few obvious clues together to deduce an answer, but those occurrences are very few and very far between.

My success at trivia games is 99% my weird memory for the arcane and insignificant.

Couldn't have a brain that formulates and initiates successful investment strategies or that thinks six moves ahead in a game of chess....nope.

But at trivia I'm aces.

Perspective Check

Wednesday night a friend of mine shared his opinion of what it means to be poor and unlucky. He stated, "Being poor and unlucky is saving up for months in order to buy tickets to see your favorite band in concert at Red Rocks and the day you finally have the money in hand you get a flat tire and the guy at the tire shop tells you that the rest of your bald tires are about to go - literally, he states he can't believe the rest of your tires haven't blown out too, as they are just rollin' bombs ready to blow, so you have to spend the money you saved up for the concert on new tires instead of the tickets".

I was in a pissy mood, so I looked at him disdainfully and then replied, "No, that's not being poor and unlucky, that's just being broke and actually, incredibly lucky. For starters, if you are truly poor, you cannot afford a car, no way no how. Being poor means taking the bus to get anywhere - not a cab or Uber or Lyft - those all require money or a credit card, and when you're poor you do not have money for luxury like that, and you certainly do not have a credit card, at least not one you use for, again, a luxury like a a car ride."

I added, for good, indignant self-righteous measure, "And lucky not to have had a blow out and cause an accident that could have resulted in injury or worse.'

"Oh come on", my friend retorted, "you know what I mean!"

"Uh, I think I understand what kind of comment-in-jest you're trying to make, but I don't think you actually know what poor means."

"Oh, and like you do?" He replied defensively.

A long minute passed between us as I pondered whether or not I should give him the full "Yes, yes I damn well do know what poor means" treatment, or just go with the condensed 
version.

I opted for the condensed version.

I said, "You ever drive downtown, near the intersection of 20th & Park?"

"Is that by Coors Field? I've been to Coors Field a lot, so yeah."

"It's close to Coors Field", I continued, "but a few blocks further south. It's where the Denver Rescue Mission is - there is usually a fairly large group of people on the sidewalks in front of the Mission, some even have tents."

"Are you talking about the homeless people? C'mon man, that's a pretty extreme example of what poor is."

"You're right", I stated flatly, "that would be an extreme example of what poor is if I was going to use the homeless as an example of being poor. But I'm not, because homeless people are not poor, they're destitute. Big difference between poor and destitute."

"Poor is not being homeless. Poor is a precursor to homelessness though. Most people who are poor are still working, still have a roof over their heads, are still juggling bills, still hoping that they'll have enough to make it to the next paycheck. Poor people still clip coupons because the cell phones they have are not smart phones, so they can't download whatever the great deal on fresh produce is at the market is this week. Poor people have TV's but very rarely do they have channels other than what's available for free. If a poor person shops for clothes somewhere other than a thrift store, they go straight to the clearance racks. And most significantly, poor people don't buy cars, because not only can they not afford to buy one, they can't afford even to have a car if they get one free. Insurance, gas, oil, and of course new tires all cost money. Poor people do not have that kind of money."

"Dude", my friend retorted after I shut up, "How the hell do you know what being poor is? You have it made!"

"That's what it may look like to you, but you only know me as I am now" I looked at him as seriously as I could. "I have enough, but that's because I worked my ass off, and yeah, probably got lucky just being able to do that very thing. But I know poor, and having to sacrifice tickets to a concert in order to buy new tires for your car isn't it."

He stared at me for a short second before giving me a whatever shrug and walking away. I just sat and stared into space, hating myself for a moment for getting self-righteous about being poor without having the courage to really explain what my claim about how I know what being poor truly is, is actually based upon.

There are things in the past, some experiences, that just don't need to be talked about anymore.