Early August update

Just waiting for our 2nd daughter to be born. Due date was Aug 13th, which would have been cool to have our 2 daughters exactly 18 months apart, but that came and went and we are left trying to decide to either wait and run the chance of another big baby (our first daughter was 9 lbs 9.5 oz) or induce by any of a number of methods. The one they tried last night didn't work, so we're back home and will try again tonight.

But we get to experience the brand new wing at the Mammoth Hospital. The facilities are very nice and the nurses love their new ward. But what we heard about the hospital running out of money seems true, as TVs are missing from all of the labor & delivery rooms. Regardless, the rooms are nice and big and the care given to us by our small town hospital is outstanding. It's funny when asked so often, 'so are you having the baby down in Bishop?' Many out of towners don't realize that Mammoth even has a hospital! You got to when so many snowboarders are breaking wrists in the winter (like I did back in '99 here) and when so many elderly get altitude sickness in the summer.

I overheard a Vons manager saying that last week was their best week of the summer. That confirmed our feelings what with all the 'traffic' and such. The Bluesapalooza event had cars parked on both sides of the entire length of Minaret Blvd from Meridian to Main Street. The opening night was one of those times when Mammoth gets overbooked. The local Mammoth Lakes Theatre Company was in action doing a small play and the Felici Trio also had their closing concert. I opted for the latter as I had a free ticket and joined the standing room-only crowd in applauding the musicians who again played flawlessly.

And because of my wife's pregnancy, I had to miss the entire week's worth of concerts and events surrounding the 30th Sierra Summer Festival. I felt cheated as I put in month's of work lining up housing for 70 musicians and didn't even get to hear them perform, let alone perform with them as I usually do. Next year...

In addition to the music events, high school running groups have been swarming all over town. It's so great to see them training together in groups, exploring all of our trails. I even got to compete against them in the Footloose/Charthouse 5k/10k last weekend. I ran the 5k in 20:40, just fast enough to take 1st in my age group, showing you the lack of competition in my age group! Pancakes and coffee right afterwards were the true reward.

Real estate wise, things are still very slow. Buyers and sellers are still staring each other down, waiting for one to blink. The most recent offer I wrote up ended up expiring as my buyer decided to wait a while to see if the seller becomes more motivated. Yesterday I told a condo owner who was thinking of selling to wait half a year and reassess; he didn't really need to sell. Just enjoy Mammoth right now and wait for conditions to improve.

Enjoy the last few weeks of summer!