Friday 1st March
What a day! It snowed last night, and most of today. I'd say we had something like 8-12 inches of the white stuff. But what a good day it's been!

A few days ago, I got a call, out of the blue, from an agency downtown. They'd seen my resume on the web, and wanted to get together and chat about finding me a job. Bless 'em!

I had my meeting on Friday afternoon. It was OK, fairly informal, and a friendly bunch of guys and gals. They all looked about 22 years old, at the most. The interview was conducted at the desk of one of them, in an open-plan office where everyone else was on the phone. If I didn't know better, I'd have said they were selling double-glazing - they had that look about them. Afterwards, the team all trouped out, one by one, to introduce themselves to me. The only one I felt I'd trust holding my wallet was the receptionist.

It was the getting there and getting home again afterwards that was the problem. Not because of the snow, but because of bureaucracy encountered trying to park. I'm not going to go into detail, as it's too tedious to mention. Suffice to say that it involved two underground car parks (parking lots), and I think I now know where some of the, so far un-tried, war criminals are now working.

In fact the only humourous event of the afternoon, was me, trying to run in deep snow, across busy downtown streets, whilst wearing my best suit, and my ankle-length Next overcoat. This coat is one of my favourites, and is almost double-breasted when buttoned up. Consequently, given my constricting outfit, and the depth of the snow, plus the urgency of my journey across, I ended up running like Niles Crane (of TV's Frasier).

The evening was better. If I thought it was damn cold that day, the evening had that licked, big-time.

I'd got a call, just before leaving for my interview, from someone at my NPR station I belong to. I'd volunteered to help with the current pledge drive, and they needed me on the phones that night. The station, Jazz 89 is, as the name suggests, all about jazz music, in all its forms.

A side note for non-US readers:
NPR is National Public Radio. Public Radio in the US is a network of stations that are non-commercial. They rely on (voluntary) membership dues, and donations from listeners, and local businesses. Consequently, they all have to have membership drives a few times each year, to drum up funds.

I had a great time, and met about four of the DJs to whom I regularly listen. They were all just everyday people when off-air. None of them acted like celebrities, which was befitting of public radio. One of the DJs I met, Rodney Franks (who's show I love), had read my own pledge out on air the day before. We ended up chatting, and it turned out he'd lived in Britain for a couple of years, in the 1970's.

The other phone volunteers were a good bunch, and we had a lot of laughs between calls. I swapped cards with one of them, who it turns out is a professional photographer.

I've put my name down for further volunteer duties, as I think it's important to support NPR stations. It's such a great concept, and one I wish they had in Britain. I know we have the BBC, which is non-commercial (allegedly), but that's paid for by a compulsory fee for pretty much the whole population, and so lacks the NPR spirit.

It was also suggested that I should come into the sometime, and record an endorsement for broadcast. I think it was the English accent which swung it. I suggested we could freak people out, by running a tape of me announcing, "You're listening to The Today Programme, on BBC Radio 4", at the start of the breakfast show, whilst the punters are still half asleep.

Saturday 2nd March
Took the dogs down to Chatfield state park, for a walk in the snow.

Went downtown for dinner with friends. We went to the poshest Cajun restaurant I've ever been in, followed by a quick pint in The Celtic Tavern. Froze our butts off walking to and from the car. I think it was below zero fahrenheit. Seriously.

Sunday 3rd March
An excellent start to the day! Drove downtown and had brunch at Dixons. UK readers please note, this is not the popular but useless chain of electrical retailers I'm talking about, but a bar/restaurant, on 16th Street, just north of Wynkoop St.

This was followed by a lengthy visit to the LoDo branch of The Tattered Cover Bookstall.

In the afternoon, I got my (belated) Christmas and birthday presents from SWMBO. This was in the form of an Apple AirPort Base Station, and an AirPort Card. Despite the name, neither of them are used in the airline industry. It's all about wireless networking folks. Being able to sit anywhere in the house or garden, and get online without having to trail lengths of cable after me.

OK, there's the catch-up. It's not all that interesting, but I'll rework it and try and add a few laughs in somewhere.