Politeness on the bus

Nice bus, great backdrop

And you can pop your bike on the front!

This is our local bus and we LOVE it (I’m speaking for mum here too, who has declared in both letters since her visit that she is missing the SKIP).  It’s regular, reliable and goes where we often want to go.  But the thing we love most about it is the friendly drivers and the polite fellow passengers.  The drivers always ask us to have a great day as we get out and are keen to chat as they drive.  Maybe they are happy as the buses have those enormous old almost-horizontal steering wheels.  And the passengers, even the skateboard-carrying, i-pod-plugged students, holler thank you up the bus as they get out.

This politeness is the norm in non-bus situations too and it makes getting through the day very pleasant.  Early on I was chatting with a parent in the playground and he drew the conversation to a close by saying, “Well Lucy, it’s been nice talking with you.  Have a great day.”  We've been to an impromptu barbecue with some parents after three days of school, I’ve been invited on hikes and climbs and to a mums’ breakfast party.

My failure as a soccer mom

I had an opportunity to become a soccer mom.  The very first time we went to school, I was approached to see if Morwenna wanted to come to girls’ soccer.  Practice is on a Friday and matches on a Saturday, shin pads and cleets required.  I was getting nervous (what about our autumn weekends in the Rockies?) but put it to Morwenna: after all, more than half of the girls in her year are doing it, so she may want to get involved.  She was nervous: competitive soccer starts in kindergarten here and her skills are limited to the odd kick around at Hopewater.  Could she try out a practice to see if she enjoyed it?  Sorry, no, she is welcome to watch but has to sign up (and pay up) to practices and matches if she is going to play.  This was turning into a non-starter. 

I was too shy to ask whether it is possible to do it just for fun.  After all, they’ve got to train up the next Olympic champions.

Are you proud of me Mom?

By the way, Dan has offered no opportunities for me to become a soccer mom.

Bear!

Dan was riding his bike around our complex of houses this morning before school when a runner tipped him off that there was a bear nearby – less than 100m from our house.  When we first saw it, it was lounging in a tree.  Later, we heard a warning shot and it lolloped across the open ground behind our house and over the horizon: we could watch from our very verandah.  Super super exciting: apparently people go years living in Boulder and never see one.  This is the time of year to do it: they are stocking up for hibernation and come into town for berries and crab apples from gardens (and to explore ‘trash cans’ aswell of course) as this summer’s dry weather has meant not so much to eat in the mountains.

Can you see the bear in the tree?

Don't head into town or you'll be tranquilised

Brave ranger, and lady banging saucepans, not sure it helps.

Here’s what the local paper made of it, with an annoyingly better photo:

http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_21513429/bear-climbs-up-tree-across-street-from-fairview?IADID=Search-www.dailycamera.com-www.dailycamera.com

Journey to Aurora

My appointment in Aurora for biometric testing for a work permit application lasted 10 minutes and involved taking one finger print and a photo, something which the US authorities have already done in Belfast and Denver.

I was proud to negotiate a couple of interstate highways and a turnpike in the car-share.  My conclusion was that, if driving is difficult for a Brit in the US, it is because the road you are on is only sporadically named,using a small sign at the side of the road.  Meanwhile a road that you have the option to turn on to (usually in 2¼ miles in my experience), is signposted in huge letters above your lane, which makes you think “Help I’m on the 25 when I thought I was on the 70!”  Bad for the cortisol levels, and rather disorientating, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

Aurora is not a holiday, nor indeed a sabbatical destination (hence no photos).  However, I was pleased to see a] some racial diversity (Boulder equates with the Cotswolds as far as ethnic make up is concerned) and b] some body shape variation (body shape in Boulder is like the warm up area of a city-wide, all-ages triathlon festival; I exaggerate, but only a bit).

Colorado gun law

On Friday I’m going to Aurora, just east of Denver, to undergo biometric testing for my work permit.  It was in Aurora that the Batman cinema shootings took place just before we arrived.  Meanwhile, local papers and Colorado Public Radio reported last week that Colorado University in Boulder was trying to ban concealed hand guns.  A psychology teacher said that he would stop his class if he discovered anyone with a gun, which might “intimidate students during class discussions”. One interviewee agreed that guns should be banned, but gave the reason that if there were an incident, an armed student might complicate the police response.  Another said why should law abiding citizens (with or without guns) be denied psychology class?

It was all for nothing: state law over-ruled the University and upheld the right of the individual to bear arms.  Students over 21 at the University in Boulder can carry a concealed hand gun as long as they have a permit.  Strange to think of me and my fellow mature students at QM going to lectures with a gun in our handbags.  Now I know that I might disrupt class discussion or get in the way of police guns, I’m no longer tempted.

As far as I can research, gun law in Colorado is basically as follows:

“Colorado allows a person to carry a firearm in a vehicle, loaded or unloaded, if its use is for lawful protection of such person or another's person or property. [C.R.S. 18-12-105(2)] Colorado law also allows a person to possess a handgun in a dwelling, place of business, or automobile. However, you cannot carry the weapon concealed on or about your person while transporting it into your home, business, hotel room, etc.”  from http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/StatePatrol-Main/CBON/1251594549010

I need to find out what you are allowed to do with your gun which qualifies as “lawful protection”.