August Newsletter 2024
Goodbye Summer & Hello Fall
In a few weeks, we say goodbye to summer. It always goes so fast. Soon, our 100-degree days will be turning into crisp fall days.
Speaking of weather, did you know that we hit 100 degrees six times in 2024? That is the third most in Denver’s recorded history. That made us wonder, what year had the most of those?
It was 2012, with 13 days over 100 degrees. Back in 2005, there were seven such days, which is good for second place all-time. So, if you were wondering if we had an unusually sizzling summer, you are 100% correct.
Fortunately, we didn’t beat the streak of five straight 100-degree days set also in 2005 and 2012. If you like to geek out about the weather, check out this site, it will tell you whatever you need to know about extreme weather pretty much anywhere.
Enough about the weather, we have holidays to celebrate! The next one falls on Monday, September 2nd. We will indeed be closed so our dedicated associates can take a well-earned 3-day weekend.
We hope you enjoy it as well and remember to stay safe.
We have gone into the history of Labor Day a few times in the past and it has an interesting one for sure. In short, it celebrates the social and economic achievement of the American worker.
Over here at Denver Concierge, we get so wrapped up in cleaning houses and trying to manage our business that it’s easy to forget just how hard our folks work in your homes each week.
Let us take this time to celebrate those efforts and thank you for allowing us the platform to perform our duties. We thank you.
For all the details on Labor Day and why and when we celebrate it, check here.
Meanwhile, we wish you the best three-day weekend (heck maybe four if you took today off too!) with friends and family.
Happy Labor Day weekend, we will see you on the other side!
Denver Food and Wine Festival
The Denver Food and Wine Festival has returned once again.
Billed as a “multi-day extravaganza of food, wine, and spirits events”, the festival begins on September 4th and will culminate with the Grand Tasting on September 7th at Tivoli Quad.
We have many clients and partners in the restaurant space, and we can assure you that it has not been a smooth road stretching back to COVID-19 days.
This event is sponsored by the Colorado Restaurant Foundation and is the industry’s biggest fundraiser.
There are many cool events, including the “Shake and Brake Showdown”, which will feature a cocktail competition and bites from Denver’s best food trucks.
If you love wine, the folks at Riedel are sponsoring a glassware seminar, which we have attended in the past.
If you love wine and want to learn about the importance of pairing the proper glassware and wine, we would recommend that one for sure. Plus, you get some amazing Riedel glassware for your trouble.
Painful Overthinking
Do you overthink? We sure do, usually thinking about innovative ways to delight our loyal clients.
Sometimes it’s random stuff, but it’s hard for us to shut off our brains. So much so that sometimes it hurts.
Well, loyal reader, you know us. This prompted us to see if overthinking makes your brain hurt, and guess what? It does, and science backs it up.
It’s important to realize that the science behind this doesn’t cover random thoughts or daydreaming, but intense mental exertion.
From one of the articles we found on Medium, “Our findings show that mental effort feels unpleasant across a wide range of populations and tasks,”
“This is important for professionals, such as engineers and educators, to keep in mind when designing tasks, tools, interfaces, apps, materials, or instructions. When people are required to exert substantial mental effort, you need to make sure to support or reward them for their effort.”
Why then, does thinking too hard tax us so much? Simply, and also from the article, “When we think long and hard about something, toxic chemicals build up in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, the area that drives decision-making and problem-solving.”
“That leads to less-effective thinking, scientists reported in a 2022 study, and it seems to act as a circuit breaker, preventing us from thinking too much and blowing a fuse.”
Finally, and also very fascinating, Psychology Today published a study by McGill University that shows that humans will willingly choose physical pain over complex mental tasks.
That piece can be found here, and is very insightful.
The bottom line? Take some time off every now and then to let that big brain of yours recharge, especially if your head starts to hurt!!!
Leaf Peeping
Colorado’s beautiful fall colors can rival just about anyone’s. Especially if you know where to go!
In that spirit, we wanted to give you the lowdown on where exactly the best “leaf peeping” can be found.
Plus, we really like “Leaf Peeping”. Don’t ask us why, but there’s just something cute about it.
Onward we go, and leave it to the nice folks at 5280 Magazine to give us the jumpstart we needed.
From hot springs getaways to a full fall immersion up on Grouse Mountain, they have some great destinations covered.
Happy trails and enjoy those colors!
Skyrocketing HOA Fees
Not long ago we talked about property taxes and their astronomical increases across our state.
Homeowner’s insurance is also on the rise, thanks to hail and fires across our state.
Now, it seems that those increases have rapidly crept into HOA fees.
40% of Coloradans belong to an HOA. If you are in a single-family dwelling, those fees can range from $500 to a few thousand dollars a year.
If you are in a high-end condo or townhome, however, those rates are much higher, sometimes exceeding $1000 monthly, on top of your mortgage payment.
It seems the increase in insurance rates and all other associated costs have led us to this.
From the article on KRDO, “According to industry experts, those who live inside neighborhoods that have Home Owner Associations (HOA’s) may see a steep increase in their fees this year. They say it is because of two things: skyrocketing insurance costs and increasing labor costs.”
“A lot of our clients are seeing their costs increase up and down their budget, whether it’s because of the landscape contract increasing … or insurance, or the costs of our fees and management costs associated with running the association,” Brandon Helm, President of Warner Management said.”
Many HOA residents are seeing double or even triple their normal rates.
If you are in an HOA, Colorado has laws that may protect you. Unfortunately, there aren’t laws that prohibit increases nor any that cap what HOA’s can do.
The state does have an HOA resource and it can be found here.
Finally, it at least appears that there may be some property tax relief coming soon.
Sure seems like increased costs are everywhere these days.
Monthly Award Winners
Our monthly award winners for July were Maria Zapata, Haydee Espinoza, Josefina Quinonez, Cecilia Reyes, and Nimia Espinoza.
In the Team Leader ranks, it was Socorro Ibarra and Laura Varela.
We are so proud of our winners, and of all the folks that are in and out of your homes each week.
We are also very appreciative to be a part of your lives and your homes. You provide the platform for our teams to perform, and for that we are grateful.
Please join me in congratulating our best performers for the month of July.
Queen Bee Corner
by Angela
Many, many years ago when Denver Concierge was in its infancy we had a policy that we would not do partial cleans.
We would only clean the whole house top to bottom.
Fast forward to the present where costs across all sectors are pretty much off the charts, we have drastically modified our earlier MO. It suddenly seemed unfair and burdensome money-wise for clients to pay for seldom used rooms or areas.
Clients now can choose which rooms are to be cleaned each visit and communicate this by responding to the confirmation text they receive the day before each clean.
The only criterion we ask for is, “keep it simple”.
If possible include whole rooms or levels rather than smaller areas or even pieces of furniture. (The only exception to this would be delicate antique items such as pianos, wall art, or sculptures which should be noted on the work order as a standard instruction).
We want the team members to hit the ground running upon arrival rather than wait while their Team Leader unravels complicated instructions.
On a side note, please know any comments or concerns should be sent to me via text, as they occur.
It is our responsibility to keep you happy and not have our folks in the field grapple with small irritants or preferences that could be easily remedied.
On the flip side, we also love to receive complimentary thoughts as they occur (which we immediately text to the team).
Showing appreciation for a job well done goes a long way toward a happy work force, and for that we thank you.
Bee