James Rogers:  

Life Hasn't life been grand for us? We've all had our ups and downs, good times and bad, including the loss of loved ones. Hopefully the joys have offset the sorrows. All in all, life has been good to me. After getting turned down by the military for Viet Nam, I had two careers - first as a machinist for 10 years and then after going back to finish a bachelor's degree at UCD, 25 years as a real estate appraiser in eminent domain with CDOT. I worked part-time in retirement last year (2012) reviewing appraisals for RTD in their FasTracks light-rail program. I discovered Mike Barnes ("Barney") worked there! Now I work part time making phone calls from home for the Census Bureau, in Quality Control. Sounds fancier than it is, but it helps financially.. I was married 20 years to one woman, 12 of them happily. I was one of those "older dads." It felt odd sometimes at PTA meetings where everyone else was a lot younger. <g> Sometimes I wondered if I had enough energy for a teenager while in my 50's! We managed, though. My son Alden is 41 and graduated from UCD in film production. He tried to start a local company doing commercial training films with a partner, but then the economy went south. He now gets by driving limos part-time for a Denver firm. He keeps plugging away on creating an online video game, and looking for better work. My daughter Sarah squeaked by in high school, but redeemed herself by graduating magna cum laude from Metro State in December of 2011. She applied 58 times for teaching jobs, and finally got one teaching at Eagle Ridge Academy - in Brighton, of all places! She's engaged to be married in June of 2013. As a teenager, she recorded a demo CD in San Francisco, singing pop and country songs. Unfortunately all that money spent went nowhere, but it did help her mature a lot. That was surely more important. My major hobby has been genealogy. After yea...Expand for more