Julie: So thanks for agreeing to be our January Java Junkies guys. We were just talking about Michigan, the last place you lived before you moved to Colorado. Were you guys born and raised there, or did you live somewhere else before that?
Sam: No, I lived somewhere else before that. Michigan is where we met.
Lynne: But I was born and raised in Michigan. This is the second place I've ever lived.
Julie: Cool, me too! So do you guys like it here in Colorado? Do you plan on staying here for a while?
Sam: So far. Unless something unforeseen happens.
Julie: Until something better comes along?
Sam: No, we're not looking for anything better. This is good. We've been here for 11 years now.
Julie: So what do you guys do for a living?
Lynne: Well, I'm an IT Manager at a company downtown, Forest Oil. It's an independent gas and oil exploration company.
Sam: I'm a Software Engineer but I've been unemployed since July.
Julie: Tough times at the moment.
Sam: Well, I'm not going to blame the economy too much because I haven't really been looking for work - I've kinda been doing my own thing and seeing how that goes.
Julie: Are you starting your own business?
Sam: I'd like to do consulting. I'd like a little more flexibility, and to be able to pick and choose the jobs I do a little bit. It seems like these days the types of companies I've worked for in the last 10 years you really can't rely on for permanent employment anyway, so I just want to cut to the chase and look for short term gigs on my own.
Julie: So you're both in IT - you must have a pretty sweet computer set up at home.
Sam: Well, lets see - it's getting bigger. We've got a little bit of a server farm in the basement.
Julie: What do you guys like to do for fun?
Sam: A lot of the things that brought us here; hike, bike ride, we have over the years rock climbed, but we do a little less of that these days.
Julie: Favorite hike in Colorado?
Sam: Anything up near the Divide. Indian Peaks.
Lynne: Chief Mountain is a nice short hike. There's a lot that I like, but those two give you some really good views without exactly having to climb a 14'er to get them.
Sam: We went to a couple of places along the I-70 corridor, the Herman Gulch area, that had really beautiful wildflowers this year.
Julie: Got any plans for New Year's Eve?
Lynne: We have friends that live in Steamboat, and we have a friend we've known since we were living in Michigan, so one of them is flying out to Steamboat and we're going to celebrate his 60th birthday. His official birthday is a day or so after New Years. So we plan to hopefully do some skiing, maybe some snowshoeing. Our friends have a very nice and spacious house, and can accommodate a big group of us that are planning to be over there. The only part that's hard about Steamboat is, it's a very nice place, it's just the difficulties getting there in the winter. If it was last week we probably never would have made it. But hopefully the snow will clear up a little bit so we can actually get there and get back.
Julie: Do you guys have any new year resolutions?
Lynne: Huh...
Sam: Ahhhhhhhh....
Julie: Did I only just start that thought process with that question?
Sam: Get a job! (laughs)
Lynn: Sam's getting a job, me, well for me I think I want to be a little more organized. That would be my biggest thing. I'm kinda a little bit not kinda at times. And not work as hard. That's my other thing.
Sam: There ya go.
Julie: Well, that's usually easier said than done. So how did you guys find out about us?
Lynne: Well we saw the big sign and we'd been hoping someone would open something up around here for a while, because we get a lot of out of town guests and they always leave really early in the morning and they always ask "Where can we stop and get some coffee?"and there wasn't any place really close that wasn't out of the way, so we got really excited when you guys opened up.
Julie: What are your favorite coffee drinks at Read, Write & Brew?
Lynne: I'm not really a coffee drinker, so I like the Chai.
Sam: Latte.
Julie: Is there anything you think fellow customers or people reading this Blog would be surprised to know about you that they wouldn't otherwise know if they hadn't read about it on this blog?
Sam: I was a gymnast. I did all around but I was best at the floor, pommel horse, parallel bars, uneven bars.
Lynne: He actually got some scholarships for that.
Sam: Yeah, that actually helped me out through college.
Lynne: I can't think of anything! Ummm, I'm going to learn to play the guitar.
Sam: We're going to take guitar lessons together.
Lynne: We hope to inspire each other to learn.
Julie: Well that could have been one of your answers to the 'New Year's Resolutions' question. So can we say this time next year we'll have you booked in to perform for everyone on our stage, and we can see the progress you've made by then?
Sam: Wow, that's ambitious. How about air guitar?
Lynne: I was impressed that one of the guys who we've watched play here had a really cool device, it was a tuner.
Sam: She liked the electronic tuner.
Julie: Of course, IT people love their electronic gadgets, I know, I live with one myself.
Jefferson (over at the counter serving drinks): Did I hear you guys say you play guitar?
Julie: Yep, book them in for a performance this time next year, on the stage.
[Lynne kept mentioning interesting things people would not know about Sam, and kept insisting she had nothing interesting to mention about herself. "I'm sure you'll think of something you should have told me once you get home" I assured her. Sure enough, when the tape recorder was turned off at the conclusion of the interview, the conversation went on and she mentioned that she spent a night on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean once. One of two females on the whole platform, they had to create a makeshift bedroom in the female bathroom on tiny sleeping cots. The voice recorder was not rolling, so I'm not able to repeat all the details, but SEE LYNNE! You have done some pretty amazing things that people would not know by just looking at you. I'm sure you thought of even more things you could have mentioned while you walked back home from the store that morning.]
Thanks for the interview guys. It was great to get to know you two better, and we hope you enjoyed your $10 Gift Certificate to spend on your Latte's and Chai's at Read, Write & Brew.
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