An 80 degree day

 

 

 

Nice way to finish off 2023 with a little deck time.

 

The first week of 2024, not bad looking either.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Electric cars

 

 

I think it would be cool to buy an electric car, but they’re still such a new technology.  Maybe if we wait a few years, there will be more to choose from, and with more competition, maybe they’ll be a little cheaper too.  My little Mazda 3 is still in great shape, but the technology is getting old.  It doesn’t have a back-up camera or adaptive cruise control.  It’s really fuel efficient and doesn’t cost very much, so maybe I should just replace it with a newer gasoline powered car and wait until the next round to buy electric.

 

But then again, I tend to keep cars for ten or fifteen years.  If I buy another car now, I’ll be looking to upgrade it again when I’m 90 or 95.  Oops.  Isn’t that about the time the kids will be chasing me down to take away the car keys?  Maybe the next car I buy will be my only shot at buying an electric car.

 

Something cool about Neanderthals

 

 

They lived from 400,000 years ago to 40,000 years ago, plus or minus, in an area from Western Europe to Western Asia.  They evolved from a common ancestor of both Neanderthals and modern humans.

 

A few hundred thousand years later, Homo Sapiens, modern humans, spread north out of Africa.  There is evidence that modern humans arrived in Neanderthal territory 54,000 years ago.  That’s a late arrival to that area by modern humans; they were spreading out north and east out of Africa long before that.  Maybe they were dissuaded from advancing further into what is now southern Europe by the well-established population of Neanderthals that was already there.  When homo sapiens finally did move into Neanderthal territory, there was no immediate replacement.  They lived side by side for at least 14,000 years.  That’s not very long in geologic time, but that’s a very long time to be next door neighbors.

 

Ultimately, Neanderthals dwindled while Homo Sapiens increased.  The population of Neanderthals was never very high.  In all that time, 350,000 years, it’s thought that their population never exceeded 100,000.  Neanderthals are gone now, but as a result of being neighbors for so long with Homo Sapiens, there was some breeding between species.  We know this because the entire human genome has been sequenced, and Neanderthal DNA has been recovered from artifacts and sequenced as well.  Genetic studies comparing the two show that a small bit of Neanderthal DNA, in the range of 1% or 2%, survives in most Homo Sapiens today.  Ironically, add up that tiny bit of Neanderthal DNA in the billions of modern humans alive today, and it calculates to way more Neanderthal DNA in circulation now than there ever was while they were still around as a separate species.

 

 

Football

 

 

It’s going to be a stress-free playoff season in this house.  We’re not going to have to agonize about the Broncos winning anything.

 

We cheer for the Cowboys, but we’re not quite so invested in how they do.

 

 

It was fun

 

 

It was fun seeing that many new birds in England.

 

This wasn’t primarily a birding trip, but anytime we were out and about, we could watch for whatever was around us.  When we were out walking, we got to make several trips to wildlife parks, not just city parks, and record what we saw there.  Lots of easy birds like crows, blackbirds, coots, herons, and moorhens.  Easy to recognize, but slightly different from North American species, so all new birds to us.  Those parakeets in the city parks.

 

Couldn’t count this ruddy shelduck because it didn’t really belong here, but it was fun to see it.

 

This black swan didn’t count because it was more like a pet.

 

Got to count the ring-necked pheasant, but it’s the same as what we see at home, when we get lucky enough to spot one.

 

 

We saw a great spotted woodpecker.

From a great distance.

 

Loved that little European robin.

 

Barnacle geese.

 

Eurasian magpies.

 

And a common kingfisher.

 

Striking coloring.

 

We added thirty-five species to our life experience.

 

The future of urban mobility?

 

 

 

It’s a Twizy.  A two-seat electric microcar from Renault.

 

https://www.renaultgroup.com/en/news-on-air/news/twizy-2/

 

A range of 100 kilometers and a speed of 80 kph.  It plugs into a household wall socket and recharges in 3 hours.

 

 

Merry Christmas

 

 

 

A quiet one for Judy and me.  Home from our trip and dinner just the two of us.  Becky and Brian have the whole family together in Bristol England for their Christmas.  Matt and Lindsay have a big family gathering as well.

 

Our house.

 

Matt’s house.

 

 

 

Brian and Becky family all in England.  They all got Christmas Poppers, and all Christmas Poppers include crowns.

 

Andy and Christie enjoying a Christmas Day walk in the Great Pacific Northwest.

 

Happy Holidays to all!

 

 

Cash

 

 

The only thing we needed cash for in England was to drop in the collection buckets of street performers.  Everything else, tap a card or tap your phone with Apple Pay (or Google Pay).  Lots of places wouldn’t even accept cash.  No minimum, nobody complaining if you tapped for something that only cost a pound or two.  Oh wait.  Toilets.  The public toilets in the middle of town that were not at a public facility like a train station or Underground, cost 20 pence.  Shortly after we discovered that there was a charge for random restrooms and we had to have a few coins in our pockets, we discovered that there is a tradition of pubs offering their toilets for free to anyone that needs them.  No resistance, just a friendly welcome to anyone wandering in from the street.  There is a pub close by in practically every neighborhood.

 

Restaurants.  Food carts on the street.  On and off trains, buses, and the Underground.  No cash changes hands.  No throwing money at the turnstile.  No handing cash to an attendant.  Tap at the turnstile on your way into the underground, tap on your way out, and it figures out how much to charge you.  Train tickets away from London you have to buy a ticket, but you can do that on your phone with a click.  It’s like boarding passes at the airport, just show the ticket on your phone to the attendant and you’re good to go.

 

No converting dollars to pounds when we arrived.  No scrambling to try to get leftover pounds converted back to dollars before we left.  For such an old country, they sure are modern with their payment systems.

 

 

It’s true

 

 

The Europeans have eliminated top sheets.  That was our experience in England anyway.

 

You get a bottom sheet and a comforter.  No blankets.  The comforter is in a duvet cover.  I presume the duvet cover is taken off and washed just like a top sheet.

 

 

Cargo bike

 

 

There are a lot of ways to get around in England without driving.  Trains, buses, the underground, walking, and bicycles.  If you need to carry something more than will fit in a bag hanging from your handlebars, there is this.

 

 

We’ve seen several of them riding around London neighborhoods with kids and groceries in them.  You can buy one from the Amsterdam Bicycle Company.  They’ll ship.

 

https://www.amsterdam-bicycle.com/product-category/cargo-bikes/

 

 

The plumber drummer

 

 

We got different kinds of street performers.  Really good singers, check.  Really good musicians, right.  Juggling flaming torches, got it.  And then there was this guy,

 

Whacking PVC pipe with flip-flops.

 

Making a surprisingly good sound!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BamJ6z4UHrg

 

All the way home now.  We get to sleep in our own bed tonight.

 

Common Wood Pigeon

 

 

 

And yes, it is common.  In Great Britain.  Not in the U.S.

 

We’re back on U.S. soil.  Flew most of the way home today.  We’re in Austin for the night.  We’ll fly the rest of the way tomorrow.

 

 

We’re all adults here, right?

 

 

We can say words from one country that have different implications in other countries without sniggering.

 

The word at hand is tit.  A tit is a small mostly European bird.  They’re a lot like our chickadees.  There are many different kinds and we have seen several this trip.  The Great Tit is not big, but it is the biggest of the ones we’ve seen.

 

 

Blue tit.  Slightly smaller.

 

 

We also saw Coal Tits; they look almost exactly like our black-capped chickadees at home in the U.S.  And long-tailed tits; they look a lot like our bushtits at home.

 

Good for us.  We’re mature enough to have made it through without giggling.  Even though, when I hear the woman’s voice on the loudspeaker for the underground announcing the train stops, I still flinch when I hear her say Cockfosters.  I know, it doesn’t mean anything, but it just feels wrong to say it out loud.

 

 

It’s not a garden gnome

 

 

It’s not an elf on a shelf.

 

It’s Chepstow!

 

He’s not part of the décor.  He has been with us since Chepstow Castle.

 

And now he has a partner.  From York.  His name is Shambles.

 

 

They stay together.  Wherever we are.

 

Can you spot the

 

 

 

European Robin.  Buried in the underbrush.

 

He was curious enough to come out to see us.

 

 

 

In England, known as Robin Red-breast.  One might wonder why, with that bright orange breast, he would be named Robin Red-breast.  The answer to that question is that the little bird was described and named in England in the 1300s.  A specific word in English to distinguish orange from red, was not coined until the 1400s.

 

FW: It’s beginning to look a lot like….

 

 

We missed the Taylor Roth Christmas Holiday party in Denver.  We did get a nice recap from Savannah though, and it was charming enough that I would like to share it.  We never get everyone to the annual get-together; they’re spread around Denver, Albuquerque, some in England this year, and wherever the remote workers happen to be.  Light-hearted awards, serious recognitions, and that many of us together all at once.  Nice.

 

 

From: Savannah Platz <savannah@taylorroth.com>
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2023 3:48 PM
Subject: It’s beginning to look a lot like….

 

…a TRC Christmas Party recap!

 

This year we went to a little southern brunch spot called Four Friends Kitchen that rents their space out for events in the evenings. We had the whole place to ourselves from 5-9 on Saturday and that was just super! Thanks to Warren and Dotte for the recommendation. The staff kept us happy with drinks, appetizers, HUGE dinners, and delicious desserts. They worked hard with me in the weeks preceding to meet all our desires and needs and I think they did a pretty great job, overall, and were great people to work with.

 

Because this year was a mini celebration of 35 years of TRC, we decided to have a little extra fun in the form of some silly and some not-so-silly awards.

 

First the silly…

The votes are in, and these were the winners of The Rothy’s:

Every winner received a tiny trophy and gift card to either Target or Shell.  

Award	Winner	Runner up
Tidiest Workpaper Award	Jess	Shannon/Dale
Most Likely to Email you at 1am	Becky	Warren
Excel Whiz Award	Ken
Denver Golden Bagel Award (for the yummiest snacks!)	Ian	Ken
NM Golden Bagel Award  (for the yummiest snacks!)	Shannon	Monika
Denver Lunchtime Conversationalist Award	D	Warren
NM Lunchtime Conversationalist Award	Shannon	Aryn
Denver Energizer bunny award	Dale	Savannah
NM Energizer bunny award	Monika	Teresa

 

Now the not-so-silly…

We took the opportunity to express gratitude and honor for all the staff members who have spent 10+ years with Taylor Roth. They received a certificate (and an email early this morning) directing them to a website where they can choose a gift. (Except for Ken, who is now enjoying the gift that you all generously helped choose.)

Shannon, 10 years

Becky, 10 years (this time)

Jess, 10ish years (because she was here, then left, then came back to us)

Patti, 14 years

Janis, 15 years

David R., 16ish years (because he also was here, then left for a time, and returned)

Warren, 20 years

Ken, 25 years

Diane, 30 years

 

And I would be remiss not to remember Steve (and Judy) who, 35 years ago, built the foundation of hard work and care for staff and community that that this amazing company still stands on. We are forever grateful!

 

Finally…

I have three pictures. I know. Only three. That’s on me—I’m terrible at pictures. So, if anyone else has some from Saturday night, PLEASE share with the group!

 

 

 

 

Savannah Platz

Office Administrator

 

Taylor Roth and Company, PLLC

800 Grant Street, Suite 205

Denver, CO 80203

(303) 830-8109