Lunch with Governor Ritter

Let's do a little catching up.

On the 11th, Sunday evening Bob Gray came for dinner and that is
always fun. His company continues to prosper, but he doesn't
have much time to actually program any more, too busy trying to
bring in the resources.

On Monday we both had appointments with Dr. Ho, our
dermatologist. And both had little glitches frozen off.

Wednesday was book club, but I was feeling poorly so skipped it.
I was sorry because I always enjoy meeting with the Salina ladies.

Thursday was driving day for Robert...

Friday, Robyn arrived in Denver for a few days of classes prior
to her departure for New Zealand on Monday.

On Saturday we went to Longmont to enjoy a barbecue with Teri,
Tim and the boys. Teri was in pain with a back problem, but Tim
held forth and turned out a fantastic Japanese barbecue. It was
delicious. It was good to see the whole family. The boys have
grown up quite a bit since last we saw them. Jesse is a high
school senior!

Sunday evening Robert, Carl and I met Robyn at her hotel in
Littleton and went to Pasta Jay's for a farewell dinner. Martha
stayed home with a sick Ariel. We missed her and Ariel, although
we had a longer time to talk without an impatient 10-year- old
wanting to leave. Robyn is enjoying her Kindle and has a bright
red leather cover for it. It makes me sort of interested in one
for myself. No problem finding shelf space with one of those.
I'm thinking about it.

Monday, as I was leaving for a luncheon with other activists and
Governor Ritter I couldn't help but notice water pouring out of
the pump house. The big white tank was filling the green tank
that is in the pump house and it had over-filled it a bit. I ran
back and yelled for Robert and he turned the valve off. I could
have done that, but I didn't want to get my feet soaked..

The luncheon was very interesting. There were about 50 people
there and the governor spoke for about 20 minutes and took
questions for another 15 minutes. He is a good speaker and
politically very savvy. It is a tough time to be a leader; so
many things to do and so little money to do it. He announced that
Seimans company was going to build an International Test Center
near NREL in Golden. Their focus will be on renewable energy.
He is anxious for school reform and suggested we look at
www.schoolview.org which is a site describing the hopes and
directions for changing performance of Colorado School Districts.

He went on to describe his ideas on health care reform and the
Colorado Health Affordability Bill.

With regard to transportation he noted we have 125 bridges with
structural liability. In addition he said that the
transportation bill in committee had been endorsed by the
Republicans, but when it came to the floor they all voted against
it. This was a shock because the Republican party has been
pushing for more money for transportation.

He also noted the recent passage of a bill to allow students to
go to high school for five years and end up with a high school
diploma AND an associates degree. He's hoping that will keep
more kids in school when they see they'll end up with the extra
degree and a better chance at a better job.

That's not all he said, but I'm sure that's more than you wanted
to read.

When I came home from the lunch Robert announced his
computer had been infected and trashed. The afternoon was
spent talking to Carl and Fred (in Florida) but by evening his
computer was up and running and he is grateful he is pretty
careful about backing up his files.

Yesterday, I had lunch with Susan in Lafayette. We, as usual had
a great gab fest.