Denver, CO

OK.. I would not have considered writing a blog about a haircut before today, but let me tell you.. this was one incredible haircut.

I frequent Supercuts when its time for my trims but I’ve decided to start supporting local, small businesses whenever I have a chance to avoid chain businesses. That’s for personal reasons is all.

So I went into a barber shop on Tennyson and about 40th St in Denver. If I remember correctly, the address was 4024 Tennyson.

This barber shop definitely had the old, classic barber shop feel to it, but was most astounding was the service. Supercuts brings me in, trims the hair, towels me, and then I’m pushed out of the chair and rushed up to the pay counter. It was different at this barber shop.

Service included a unique mix of new and old hair cut technology. There was a very fancy machine that distributed heated shaving cream. And my barber used the electronic razor as they do in Supercuts. But when he went to clean up my neckline, he pulled out the old-fashioned knife-looking razor (I’m reminded of that new Johnny Depp movie: Sweeney Todd). And once the shave was finished I recieved an aftershave treatment and, get this: a neck, shoulder, and arm massage aided by some electronic massage device.

I was so blown away by what a haircut could be compared to what I spent at Supercuts. Price?
Supercuts: about $15
this barber: $14

I left a six dollar tip.

Here’s a fun and practical chain email. Please forward to others:

Gas Facts, Very interesting . . .

I don’t know what you guys are paying for gasoline…. but here
in California we are also paying higher, up to $4.50 per gallon. But
my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are
some tricks to get more of your money’s worth for every gallon.

Here at the Kinder Morgan Pipeline where I work in San Jose, CA we
deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline.
One day is diesel the next day is jet fuel, and gasoline, regular and
premium grades. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity
of 16,800,000 gallons.

Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the
ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations
have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground
the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so
buying in the afternoon or in the evening….your gallon is not
exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and
the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and
other petroleum products plays an important role.

A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But
the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the
pumps.

When you’re filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a
fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has three (3)
stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode you should be pumping on
low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you
are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are
pumping on the fast rate, some other liquid that goes to your tank
becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the
underground storage tank so you’re getting less worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is
HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have
in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline
evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an
internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the
gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike
service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is
temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact
amount.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the
storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up–most likely
the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and
you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the
bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS!

WHERE TO BUY USA GAS, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW, READ ON.

Gas rationing in the 80’s worked even though we grumbled about it. It
might even be good for us! The Saudis are boycotting American goods.
We should return the favor. An interesting thought is to boycott
their GAS.

Every time you fill up the car, you can avoid putting more money into
the coffers of Saudi Arabia. Just buy from gas companies that don’t
import their oil from the Saudis.

Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill-up
the tank, I am sending my money to people who are trying to kill me,
my family, and my friends.

I thought it might be interesting for you to know which oil companies
are the best to buy gas from and which major companies import Middle
Eastern oil.

These companies import Middle Eastern oil:

Shell……………………….. 205,742,000 barrels

Chevron/Texaco………. 144,332,000 barrels

Exxon /Mobil……………. 130,082,000 barrels

Marathon/Speedway… 117,740,000 barrels

Amoco……………………….62,231,000 barrels

Citgo gas is from South America, from a Dictator who hates Americans.
If you do the math at $30/barrel, these imports amount to over $18
BILLION! (oil is now $90 - $100 a barrel)

Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

Sunoco……………..0 barrels

Conoco……………..0 barrels

Sinclair………………0 barrels

BP/Phillips…………0 barrels

Hess…………………0 barrels

ARCO………………0 barrels

If you go to Sunoco.com, you will get a list of the station locations near you.

All of this information is available from the Department of Energy and
each is required to state where they get their oil and how much they
are importing.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of gas
buyers. It’s really simple to do.

Now, don’t wimp out at this point…. keep reading and I’ll explain
how simple it is to reach millions of people!!

I’m sending this note to about thirty people. If each of you send it
to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) … and those 300 send it to at
least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000) and so on, by the time the message
reaches the sixth generation of people, we will have reached over
THREE MILLION consumers!!!!!!! If those three million get excited
and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will
have been contacted!

If it goes one level further, you guessed it…..THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. How long would
all that take?

Today’s tips for getting better MPG out of the $3.59/gallon gas we buy comes from:
Sean Brodrick posting on 4-23-08 for Money and Markets newsletter

1) Slow down. Typically, a car going over 60 miles an hour is likely to decrease its fuel economy. The rule of thumb is for every mile per hour faster than 55 mph, fuel economy drops by about 1%; the drop-off increases at a greater rate after 65 mph. According to fueleconomy.gov, “you can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon for gas.”

2) When you’re finished at the gas pump, turn the handle 180 degrees so that it’s upside down. This will force out up to 1/2 cup of gas into your tank. Put your gas cap back on right away and tighten it firmly — gas evaporates quickly.

3) Use cruise control on the highway. That cuts down the engine speed and allows your car to maintain a steady momentum without exerting too much effort.

4) Remove excess weight from your car. By that, I don’t mean leave your mother-in-law at the rest stop. I mean dump all the junk you may be carrying around in your trunk. Every extra 100 pounds your car carries decreases fuel efficiency by about 2%.

5) Perform needed maintenance on your car. A well-tuned engine, clean air filter and fully-inflated tires will do wonders for your gas mileage. According to fueleconomy.gov, under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.4% for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four tires. On the other hand, fully inflating your tires can improve your gas mileage by about 3.3%. Replacing a clogged air filter improves your mileage by about 10%, and tuning your car (when it needs it) improves gas mileage by about 4%. Add it up and that’s 17% improvement. If your car gets 25 miles to the gallon and you drive 12,000 miles a year, you’ll save 81.6 gallons — about $326 at $4 per gallon gas.
And if you get 15 miles to the gallon, the same tips could save you $544.

6) Telecommute as much as possible. This isn’t possible for everyone, but the cheapest gas is the gas you don’t use; plus time you don’t spend driving is time you can spend working. If you need another argument to convince your boss, here’s one: It’s patriotic. A portion of every dollar we send our “good friends” in Saudi Arabia goes to support al Qaeda.

more tips will be posted this week! And, if you have some of your own tips, then leave a comment and help your fellow Coloradoans save money on gas.

Is this what the war for American Independence was fought for?

Walking through Downtown Denver today I noted the remarkable, newly constructed Hyatt Hotel. This building is truly a testament to architecture of its time. Regardless, I was ominously disturbed to see:

the United States flag, flying side by side with the Colorado State flag, flying side by side with the….Hyatt flag?!?

I think that this is a clear sign that we need to be concerned about the role of corporations in this country…

This weekend in Denver saw thousands of people gathering together at the Civic Center Park to celebrate Cinco De Mayo. If you didn’t get to experience and enjoy the festival in person, here’s an overview from my six hours spent in the sun and fun on Saturday May 3rd:

The Cinco De Mayo had a taste of everything: from regular carnival food like hot dogs, to Greek cuisine on Gyros, Chinese food, Mexican food, and plenty of desserts. Hardly a mouth was dry either; there was plenty of beer and margarita stands all around. I just had water because I do not drink for personal reasons

Food is pretty important to me so it figures I’d type that up first. But what else? Activities:

Fun for the whole family was highlighted by bouncey houses, train rides, and a petting zoo for the kids and the more adventurous and carefree adults.
The sound of music could be heard from every corner, and depending on where you were standing you’d be listening to one of a number of radio stations present (including 92.5 the Wolf and a new radio station for hip-hop 107.1) or one of the two stages playing live music from various bands and artists. The most entertaining was a young kid - he couldn’t have been more than 9 years old - playing on an entire drum set! This kid could drum!

Information tables: Sponsors and vendors had tents set up throughout the park, displaying their goods and services. Some of the tents were full of culturally related items but much more, to my disappointment, were booths just selling stuff and contributing to the commercialization of this country and overall U.S. culture, to the point where commercialization has even started to take over our holidays.

Dancing: You could watch dancing or join in and dance. There were traditional Mexican and Aztec dancers (and drummers) and both shows drew out some large camera-happy crowds. I really enjoyed watching the beautiful, and mesmerizing, movements of this traditional art form, and found the tourist trigger happy cameramen and camerawomen quite amusing. We love to take pictures, don’t we?

Speaking of pictures: if I can figure out how to work this scanner, I’ll upload the one picture I have from my day at the Cinco De Mayo festivities. So if you see me in a sombrero and holding a guitar with a stuffed animal donkey on my knee, you’ll know where I was. And if you see the attractive girl sitting next to me with a pink sombrero, then you’ll know who my girlfriend is- Ashley.
And if you ask me I’ll tell you the picture was her idea and she forced me to go through with it!! (but call me on that and I’ll be forced to admit that the picture was a result of my own idea and several minutes of careful persuasion to get Ashley to agree)