Taxi Companies HATE Uber, and Other App Tales

I recently downloaded an app called Waze (pronounced "ways") to my iPhone. Waze gathers data from hundreds of users via their smart phones and converts it into traffic information that guides you to your destination using the quickest route possible. For example, I usually take I-25 home from work. But when there's a traffic jam, as there often is, Waze knows about it ahead of time and directs me to a different route. It's a-MA-zing.

Another great app I recently discovered is Uber. Uber, like Waze, gathers information from drivers' smart phones and directs them to passengers who have requested a ride. In other words, I push a button on the Uber app and minutes later a car comes to take me where I want to go. Payment is done via a credit card you enter into the app ahead of time so there's no cash and no tip to mess with. It's so much faster than a taxi which can take up to an hour to arrive after you call for it.

Taxi companies, by the way, HATE Uber.

Everything is an app these days. Doing things from a website on your desktop or laptop computer is so 2000s. Anything you need to do, you can do from an app on the phone in your pocket.

I assume that app is short for application, but it also brings to mind the iPhone's maker, Apple. But that's neither here nor there.

I have relatively few apps on my phone but I've come to depend on them. I have an app to read the local paper, a camera app, an "organizer" which keeps me on task, and a calendar. I have an app which tells me what time it is in any city in the world. I can listen to music via the Pandora app and I can even watch movies on the little tiny screen using the Netflix app. Though I've stopped using it, again, there is also a Weight Watchers app on my phone. I even have an app which tells me whether I've used the allotted monthly amount of data on my phone plan.

There is an app which tells you at what altitude you are, which can come in handy in Colorado. Though I've never used it, there's an app that gay men use to find other nearby gay men. There's probably something comparable for lesbians and straight people, but I wouldn't know about those.

Facebook and Twitter have apps. I haven't fallen under the spell of Twitter yet. Is it something that could benefit me in any way? What would I tweet about? Who would want to know when I go to the bathroom or some such other personal and mundane activity? But I digress.

There are a few things I haven't been able to find an app for. House cleaning, for one. Wouldn't that be great? An app to weed the garden would also be nice. Is there an app that would help me give pills to my cat? Hey, not long ago I would have joked that I wanted an app to avoid traffic jams.

The What's Not Here Anymore Tour

When visiting a new city, it's sometimes fun to visit the most impressive, unique sights. In Denver, you might take in various landmarks such as the state capitol, for example, or the Museum of Nature and Science. Coors Field could be of interest, and you might even swing by the Denver Mint, though it's not much to look at from the outside.

I have an alternative tour. I call it the What's Not Here Anymore tour. After 25 years of living in the Mile High City, I know more about what a location in the city used to be than what it is now.

Though I didn't move here until I was 27, I grew up in Denver's orbit of influence. Denver was where we went to the airport. Denver was where all the TV stations came from. Denver was culture and theatre and shopping. Denver was fancy restaurants like the Spaghetti Factory where we ate whenever we came to town.  Hey, it seemed fancy at the time. Casa Bonita was also a regular stop - yes, I know the food is not that good, but for a kid just discovering his sexuality, those cliff divers were amazing to watch.

The malls in and around Denver were exotic because before 1980, my hometown didn't have one. There was nothing like that first sip of Orange Julius or an ICEE at Cinderella City.

The first traffic jam I remember was in Denver. My father drove the RV as my friend John and I watched from the overhang above the cab. We had to turn the radio off so Dad could concentrate while all those crazy freeway drivers tried to get around us. Naturally, the doors were locked because we were in the big city.

The first time I ever saw a gay couple making out, my family was driving through Cheesman Park on the way to my brother's apartment on High Street. My  parents pretended not to notice. Slack-jawed, I silently vowed I would return to explore this fascinating phenomenon and by golly, I eventually did.

When I moved to Denver, May D&F was the region's primary department store. The downtown location was an interesting paraboloid shape where the gigantic Sheraton now stands.

When I moved to Denver, Denver International Airport was still a massive construction site. Though the old crowded Stapleton Airport hasn't existed for two decades, I miss it. Oh sure, it was unnerving to land on parallel runways, two planes' wings nearly touching as they simultaneously approached the ground. But it only took 10 minutes to get from the end of Concourse E to my apartment on Columbine street. And I continue to be embarrassed by that circus tent that passes for the DIA roof.

It pains me now to see the wasteful demolition at the old University Hospital site, though we are promised new opportunities for housing and retail in the future, I'm starting to wonder if I'll live long enough to see it.

Try as I might, I can't exist totally in the past. I do appreciate the Denver of now.

• The blossoming of Lower Downtown (LODO) over the past two decades has really enlivened the city. 
• I love those whimsical dancing sculptures at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. 
• The Tattered Cover continues to shine as a literary beacon, even though it's moved around a bit and opened multiple locations. 
• Our Civic Center is second to none when it comes to gigantic holiday light displays. 
• The light rail system and Union Station redevelopment illustrate that people here have enough vision to invest in a bright future.

When all is said and done, however, nothing caps off the day like a visit to the Spaghetti Factory. It hasn't changed.