^{Diaries from the Road: Denver, Colorado.}

I’m out west this week for a Conference in Denver, Colorado which is a new city for me. I’ve been looking forward to coming out here and participating in this conference as it coincides with a big launch at RoadMap that we are getting really positive feedback and momentum with. Check it out (Lab of Data)

I got in early Sunday and had a full day open to explore, as you would assume, I found a golf course and tested out the high altitude golf theory. The ball goes a mile, I felt about a foot taller and 50 pounds lighter. I had a rare run as a single golfer to find a tee time, assuming I’d be thrown in to complete a foursome and play with those guys. I had a 1:20 tee time as was coming in hot (had to stop at In & Out) so I called to see if I could get a little headway for a later tee time, the pro said no problem we have one at 1:50. Great, I got some more time, I get a double double to eat with no rush, and a nice drive through the mountains to the course.

When I showed up I reminded myself of the story of the Chinese farmer, that I often think about while golfing in between good or bad shots

@motivationalmoment

The story of the Chinese farmer. Listen to this to put some perspective on perspective #imspiration #perspective #motivationalmoment #fyp

The morale of the story is that you can never get to up or down because there’s always more to see. I thought about this because moving my tee time back not only pushed me out of the foursome I was scheduled to play with, but it led me to (not his real name) Tom.

The Cart Staff introduced us, Tom is inhaling a hot dog and extends his left hand for a hand shake. Tom proceeds to tell me about the course, about his Colorado lifestyle and we head to the first tee. The course is a beautiful track in South Denver about 15 minutes from Red Rocks. Tom tells me he usually plays the tips, which is a surprise to me as he’s wearing a Colorado Avalanche jersey shirt under his polo, doesn’t exactly scream Sunday Red, but I’m more than happy to back it up and see how far my drives would go in the thin air at altitude.

Side Note, I paid an additional fee for Rental Clubs. The Clubs I was provided were fine, but they were bulkier than a fast pitch softball bat. I will note to the friends reading that I did call the shop on hole 2 and led off with “Hey this is Tim in the 1:50 group, this is going to sound like a hardo but do you have any “player sets” for the rentals instead?”

This hardo got a hard no from the pro shop hero who should have just told me to leave. No sweat, we’ll live with the M6 hammerhead irons.

Tom is asking me about my game and I mention that I play a good bit but have been playing less than I normally would this time of year. Tom immediately informs me he’s going through a pretty messy divorce (think bad and then multiply by 5, and I don’t think his ex-wife is wrong fwiw). This is 15 minutes into our interaction, that’s one hell of an opener there T.

So I played quite possibly the longest 13 holes of my life with this man who was very much going through it. The Cart girl came by to offer us drinks, he cuts her off, “I haven’t drank in a year, best thing I ever did.” Great Tom, but I’m gonna need a Transfusion to make it through this round.

Tom then pulls out the largest Jazz Cigarette you have ever seen and starts humming it down. He finished it within a hole. Ground control to Major Tom. My man is gone.

The round goes along and I realize Tom is not only lifted by the green spirit but also dabbling in some Colorado Vegetable Candy. Now I’m not a saint and I’m not a cop, but brother is this the way you want this day to go?

We play the front and I go to my car to get a charger, I get to the 10th tee and he is AWOL. So this is my chance, I walk up to the tee box and hit my drive, ready to leave on a EZ Cart Jet Plane to enjoy the back 9. Of course as I’m driving towards the fairway, T-Drizzle is standing on the forward tees, “Hey Man you made it.” My soul left my body. We played 3 more holes, I noticed a pocket two groups up and let Tom know I had to bail to go back to the city. He said “nice to meet you James (which couldn’t be further from my name and not sure where that would even come from)”, I responded “best of luck to you with everything, Tim.”

I jumped ahead a hole and played the rest of the way in alone, enjoying the fresh air and surprisingly great weather. Tossing in a few pics below.

We had a great first day at the conference, meeting a lot of interesting folks and learning a lot about the industry I am still drinking a bit out of the fire hose on.

Once the day’s events came to a close, I took to yelp to find a bar to watch the Bruins. I found a spot with “award winning wings” and made my way over. The wings were strong, but came in 8s which is a poor Wing Ratio. You gotta go 6’s so you can get 12 with 2 sauces or rubs. 8 pigeonholes you into one order of the same sauce. I will admit the Dry Rub wings were excellent. I met two locals next to me at the bar who informed me I was at the wrong bar, and directed me to a Boston themed bar next door. I was skeptical, but after I paid my tab and walked over, I was immediately greeted by Dozens of Black and Gold sweaters with every single TV tuned to the Bruins and Panthers. Let’s Go.

As you know, the B’s steamrolled the Panthers, and I spent the evening high fiving strangers as if we were in Charlestown. Pretty cool experience.

I'm a little pressed for time this week so there isn’t exactly a life lesson in the pipeline, but I thought about my guy Tom and I think maybe just try and not be that guy. That might be enough to be honestly.

Til next week

TT