Grant Grigorian's Blog » colorado

Picture of the Day, 6/15/09

Grant Grigorian — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 06:47:10 +0000

Tent city at Hotchkiss, CO for the Ride of the Rockies (this about 1/5 of all the tents).

Picture of the Day, 2/16/09

Grant Grigorian — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 02:18:37 +0000

Coming down from a 14er in the winter.

Picture of the Day, 2/14/09

Grant Grigorian — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 03:40:08 +0000

Valentine’s Day Edition.

Guests filing in for our wedding.

Co-workers from India

Grant Grigorian — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 05:46:54 +0000

The office I work in is being visited by three people from India, as part of a corporate wide “off-shoring” project. The more routine tasks, like reporting and some of the number crunching will now be done from India. But beyond learning about efficiencies of competing business process models, it’s been fun getting to know these guys.

On weekends I’ve had the pleasure of showing them around Colorado, and re-visiting some of my favorite places, and seeing them again through their eyes. I never realized how truly empty of people Colorado (even downtown Denver) is. These guys are from Bangalore, India – and they were constantly amazed at the lack of people.

Of course I’ve noticed it myself whenever visiting other countries, or even coastal areas of the US.

Flagstaff Road, looking over Boulder, Colorado

Bear Lake at Rocky Mountain National Park

Heathcare Reform in Colorado: Blue Ribbon Commission

Grant Grigorian — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 05:27:28 +0000

This is not news to those that follow Colorado state policy, but just over a year ago then-Governor Bill Owens signed Senate Bill 208, which established the The Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform (aka 208 Commission). The commission’s goal is to

“study and establish health care reform models for expanding coverage, especially for the underinsured and uninsured, and to decrease health care costs for Colorado residents.”

The Commission is required to make final recommendations for comprehensive health care reform to the General Assembly by November 30, 2007.

What’s interesting about the work of the commission is that as part of it’s work, the commission solicited reform proposals from… well, from anyone who was interested enough to submit one. And indeed, there was no shortage of input (there were 31 in all).

In May of this year, the commission selected four proposals to to “undergo detailed ‘modeling’ analysis, the next step in the process of identifying proposals to submit to the General Assembly for consideration.”

The four proposals represent a wide spectrum of reforms and for a public public buff like me, they also represent a chance to really dig below the surface and analyze the benefits and costs of the reform actions. This is also an opportunity to learn about how state government works – how lively debate can (or can not) shape the course of legislation.

I will review and discuss each proposal separately in future posts.

Mt. Evans: First Attempt

Grant Grigorian — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 04:33:47 +0000

I forgot to write about it here, but last week I attempted to climb Mt. Evans from Guanella Pass. I went with 4 friends, two of whom were first time 14er hikers.

The route was brutal, especially willows. We could not find a good way to pass around them, and those of us who didn’t have hiking boots got very muddy and wet, as we were practically walking through a swamp. The willows also made 3 of us bleed and all of us suffering from scratches.

When we were about 200 feet from the summit, we were chased off the mountain by a storm. I felt my own hair standing from the static electricity in the air and could see my friend’s hair standing as well. I’ve never felt similarly uncertain, and looming doom before.

I am going again later this month. This time, we will leave earlier (to avoid the storm) and take shorter route.

Click here for more pictures as well as a video of what it’s like to get lost while walking through the willows.