Frantic Time

What a frantic day! The plans changed early this morning. I made breakfast and threw the dishes in the sink to soak while I went to get a hair cut, but, before I could make it out the door, mom called wanting to confirm plans for the day. Thus began - change land. Originally, I was going to get the hair cut, then come back home to clean up the kitchen. New plan. Get hair cut, then head to moms to get an early start in the garage before it got hot. I figured if I got to the barber early in the morning, I would not have to wait long and I'd be on my marry way. Apparently, other folks had the same idea. I got to the barbers around 9:45 and left about 11:30. Delay 1: there's a new thrift shop right next to the barbers - let's check it out, shall we. Bought a cook book and several "experimental" CDs. Hit moms house and had lunch. Then hit the garage to start laundry and check out her new set of wheels. Sorry, didn't think at ALL to get a photo of it. It's a Chevy Cobalt though. Onto the garage. Fun stuff folks. As the afternoon rolled on, got the garage sorted out, got laundry done (except for jeans), and managed to amass a chunk of stuff to bring back home with me. Turns out that most of the stuff in the garage is by brothers! My mom said it would probably take the afternoon just to go through my stuff. Not so folks. Anyways, dinner ensued and I made my way back home to plow through another weeks worth of dishes. All today though, I've been having this kind of stressful sense of urgency and time constraints to get things done. I don't know why. I guess just having a lot to do and doing several things simultaneously.

Tomorrows original plan was to hike more in the Petroglyph National Park, but now the family is going for a hiking trip into the forest in Pecos New Mexico since my mom is not singing in her church choir. Will give more details on the hiking trip tomorrow.

Well, it's nearing 10pm and I'd like to chill on the couch a bit before I hit the sack. I've got to be at moms place around 9:30 tomorrow cause it will be about a 2 hour drive to our destination. Nighty Nite.

Noth'en but heat

I made it folks! The week is over and Iaammmm heading into the weekend. Tomorrows plan - 1) haircut, 2) visit mom to go through MY garage crap in preparation for a garage sale she is planning next weekend, 3) unknown (suggestions?). I'm sure I'll be having supper and all over there as well as getting a chance to check out the new hot rod of a car they picked up. Should be fun I tell ya. Good ol hot garage sifting through crap. The sweat rolling down your face, arm pits, legs, feet. Gotta love it man!!!

Tonight's adventure though was checking out some Celtic music a the Albuquerque Zoo. The have this thing called Zoo Music (creative, huh). Tonight's featured band was Gaelic Storm. Pretty good stuff. They played from 7 to about 9:30 with one intermission. But . . . we were busy checking out the animal kingdom since the Zoo allowed the exhibits to stay open later than usual. Good stuff, and good viewings as well. Many of the lions that I've never seen during the day were out! Must be something with dusk and the night coming and maybe - just maybe - the nocturnal side of there nature shining through. Hmmmm.

Anyways, I went with my mom and brother and they've just left a while ago (around 10:30 or so). So I'm chilling with a late night post and some more Disaranno. Good stuff I tell ya. So now that we have some decent weather in our neighborhood, guess what I've got planned on Sunday? You guessed it - more hiking in the Petroglyph park. This time a different trail. Should be fun. And the best part? Sunday's anticipated high will be 98F. Oh YEAH!

Success!

I've Got It Folks !!!! This guy didn't leave me stranded. For the umpteenth time, I started going through extra programs he loaded onto the computer and ran across one I had not noticed before. Boom! There it was. DVD plays great! Now all I need is a better set of speakers. Cool.

Work'en DVD Please

Got the shower done, got the belly filled, got the random photo updated, got . . . oh, that's all I got. Well three things isn't bad. The only thing left to do is get the damn DVD player to work on my new computer. The cd player did come with drivers, but . . . turns out I need to get some Dolby digital driver which I can freely download for a 30 day trial period. Somehow, I feel my wallet getting lighter. Must be a sixth sense or something. Anyways, the guy I purchased the computer from says that there are other programs on the computer that will run DVDs. Macrohards Windows Media Player being one of them. Well I downloaded all the updates for the Media Player and I've got a new error message that says there's a data encryption problem between the player and the video card - try downloading updated video drivers. OK!! S o u n d s easy enough. Not. Although my video card comes up via a serial number search (on their web site), I cannot find the drivers geared toward my specific model card and version of windows I am running. They have a lot of technical release notes to sift through, but still, none reference my video card or Windows version. Fortunately, they have an 800 number to call. Oh yeah - we'll have to see how much fun that will be. Since they are closed now, I'll reserve that excitement for tomorrow.

Otherwise, all is well in la la land. Tomorrows another day at work and as we all know, that leads to the weekend, except for those poor folks in the retail and restaurant sector. I remember those day's. When I was young. When that's the only job I could get. When minimum wage was $3.35/hr. When you'd work holiday's unless you were lucky. When your weekend may have been Monday and Thursday! Ahh yesss, those where the day's. Trust me folks, if you ever work that sector, you simply get used to it and it's just part of the grind.

Sunset

Ahh the sunset says it all folks. Feeling good, but not too much on my mind at the moment. So I think I'll make this post short and sweet.

May your sunset tonight ride you through the night. Cheers.

One pot discoveries

Just because I know your just so curious . . . .

One Pot Spaghetti
8 oz ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove minced, or 1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 14-oz can chicken broth or beef broth
1 3/4 cups water
1 6-oz can tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp dried basil or marjoram, crused
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 oz dried spaghetti, broken
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cook beef, onion, and garlic until beef is done. Drain. Add rest of ingredients except spaghetti. Bring to boil. Add spaghetti gradually, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to light boil and stir regularly until spaghetti is done or desired sauce consistency is reached.

In other news, my work partner made a huge discovery today troubleshooting a tool. I mean, this discovery earned his annual salary alone. This piece of equipment that was donated to us operated for years in production, but always with a little problem that could never be figured out. Even from the manufacturers techs. We have had the tool for about three years now and although it has been doing the job, there has always been a slight there's something not right feeling hovering in the background. Well today's discovery brought it all to light. WOW !!! This guy I work with is damn good and there's noooooooo fucking way I can match him.

On a lighter work note, today was good otherwise. It was a busy day and I managed to make a couple of troubleshooting repairs myself.

What's on tap tomorrow? More equipment troubleshooting, some training in the afternoon, and maybe a little design work thrown in for good measure. Otherwise, it's time to get tonight's dinner in the fridge and get ready for bed. Have a good one.

Night Task

Well the night seems to be going as planned so far. Maybe not in the order I envisioned . . . , but aims for the night are being completed. Let's see, there's grocery shopping, washing the car windows, shower, blog, shortly I'll eat a little, and finally, I'll wash the dishes I've generated since last night. This is all getting done so all I'll have to worry about tomorrow is cooking when I get home from work. I've got ingredients for two recipes. I'll see what I'm in the mood for when I hit the kitchen tomorrow night.

Well believe it or not, Rosie has removed herself from consideration for the Price is Right job. Thank God. Now I can rest easy. And in other news . . . there is no news. Ha ha - Gotcha.

Well short post, short exit for tonight. See ya.

IBS
Complete task one at a time with focus. For to wander creates delay and worry.

Paris HIlton Contest

What a Riot !! Local radio station 93.3 KOB FM is holding a contest in which three winners will be sent to Paris to see Gwen Stefani. While there, you'll stay in a Hilton hotel.

While listening to the station, when you hear the sound of a jail cell door slamming shut, be the 9th caller to qualify and win a radio station tee shirt with a unique cell number on it. At some given time, they will call a cell number and if your shirt number matches, you WIN.

Mission Complete !!!

YES !!! Now I can rest easy. One hour to take care of business. Of course, it was last Sunday when I last did dishes. Hmmmm. So what do you do when you've got the kitchen clean? You guessed it . . .

Iced Green Tea
12 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
3 inches fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
12 to 16 green tea bags

In large sauce pan, combine water, sugar, and ginger. Bring to a boil. Simmer, covered for 5 minutes. Add teabags and remove from heat for 3 min. Strain liquid into a 2 gallon pitcher and cool for several hours, then chill. Serve.

Buckwheat Groats, Raw
1:3 - water : buckwheat

Bring water to boil and add buckwheat. Simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. (Buckwheat can be obtained at a health food store.)

There you have it. The pile is getting an early start. Regarding the Tea recipe, this is my first time trying it. Seeing how I never make standard ice tea as recommended in books, here's how I'm trying my first run:

1 green tea bag
1 inch ginger
1 tsp sugar
1/2 gallon water, split

In small sauce pan, bring about 1/4 gallon water to boil. Combine all ingredients in boiling water and remove from heat for 8 minutes. Strain in pitcher with another 1/4 gallon water. Allow to cool and chill.

I'll let ya know. The initial taste is not bad. Could have a different taste once chilled.

The Morning Outdoors

I spent this morning outside at the Petroglyph National Monument again. This time, just went by myself and had a nice time taking my time looking around the trail. Unlike the last time when I went with mom (see here), I could go as fast or slow as I wanted. I took a pair of binoculars to see if I could find any petroglyph's higher up the hill since the visitors center claims there are around 600 visible carvings in the rocks. I spotted 5. Hmmm. Granted, I may not have looked close enough and maybe did not spend enough time in any given spot. Maybe next time.


I've lived close to this place for years. Maybe a 20 minute drive or so. I think I'll be going a lot more if not to get out and walk 2.5 miles in a place that is fairly isolated from sights of civilization. There was a slight breeze that kept the temperature feeling good. Yes, hot, but when your out early and your in it as the daytime temp rises, it doesn't feel so bad. I got there around 9:45, and returned to the car at about 12:45. The parking lot was packed when I got there. My car was the last to go.


Since you have an idea of what the petroglyph's look like from before, I think I will show you something else I noticed. And that is how many desert plants are in bloom right now. Perhaps I should have been out there in the spring. Who knows what I would have seen. Oh well. Maybe next year. Enjoy the pics.

- Mighty

Salsa Java

Well here's the photo you've been waiting for. Son Como Son played last night at the Albuquerque Museum Amphitheater as part of the New Mexico Jazz Workshops Jazz and Blues Under the Stars summer series. Here's a shot for ya.


A bit on the blurry side, but all my photo's of this event seemed to land in that category. It was a good time. The band played from 7 to 10pm (almost) with two intermissions. And the weather? Cozy warm. Check out the attached links info on the band, etc.

I managed to make it through the second day of the Javascript class. Got a certificate out of it too. Now, if I can only say that I actually know what was taught. Hmmm. At least it will look familiar when I see it in the book. Does that count?

Well, I'm outta here to do I still don't know what for the rest of the evening. I'll come up with something. Maybe I'll analyze the paint deterioration on the wall. I've always wanted to do t h a t.

Late -n- Short

Well, yet another late entry for the random photo. I went to hear some salsa music this evening and just got home a bit ago. Just enough time to update the photo and babble briefly before I go to bed. Tomorrow is part two of the two day class on javascript. I've got to be there at 8am, so I think I'll spend more time tomorrow evening or Sunday talking about tonight. Well, this is as long as it's gonna get folks. Mighty heading for the sheets. Laterz.

Jury Roach

Just look at what little critter I found this morning in the bucket in my bathroom. I kept hearing something that sounded like birds walking around on the roof on the fan vent. And then, I saw it! He was a little feisty guy trying to get out of the bucket. But the sides where just a little too slippery for the guy to scale. So I decided to let the guy be for the day and below you'll see how he fared . . .




I'll be holding funeral services later tonight. Here's the route of his funeral precession. First he'll rest in the household trash can for a few day's. Then he'll proceed to the large apartment dumpster from which hell be transported on Monday morning to a local landfill. May he rest in peace. I am sorry, but there will be no viewing session. I hope you understand. A moment of silence please . . .

Al right, moving on, guess what happens on August 1? Oh come on! Take a guess? Your absolutely right, I've got jury summons. Just came in the mail sometime in the last few day's. I usually only check the mail once a week, but - since I've got to get the bills ready to go out tomorrow, I checked it tonight for any last minute entries. So anyways, August first will be the initial meeting. I've never done jury duty, so this should be interesting.

Well, on with a few things and then hit those bills. Whoohoo! Baaah.

Hump day dinner

What's for dinner, what's for dinner? How about Roast Beef with Green Beans and . . .

Corn Bread
1 cup corn meal
1 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine

Mix dry. Mix wet. Combine. Bake 350F for 35 - 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

All right, now that we got that out of the way. The stuff is cooling on the stove as we speak and my tummy is ready to go! Cooked roast beef the other night. Green beans from a can. Y o u know it!

Work'en Eye's

Well here's your Cool Random Photography picture as I promised earlier. Another lucky shot in my opinion.

So let's take a look at some eye exercises, shall we? Here is the link to my original post discussing some success I have had with the so called natural vision correction with eye exercises. After doing some roaming around the web my self tonight, I found quite an interesting tid-bit from the American Vision Institute. It has some great descriptions of various eye problems and conditions and has a downloadable PDF file outlining an exercise program along with examples. Check it out! I'll warn you that the PDF file is around 17 Mbytes for those of you that are using dial up service for your internet access. Ahhh, Ieeeee remember those days. Anyways something to get you started. There is common information that is presented in the Vision for Life program that I got, but has some slightly different exercises.

Aside from that, I should be getting ready for bed. I've got to be to work around 7 in the morning to get some work done before our weekly meeting at 8:30. I got step A started before leaving work today. Step C is a long wait period which requires completion of step B. So I need to get step C going before the meeting, otherwise face a number of wolves who'll be eying me for dinner.

Bed Time. Let's see - 99 bottles of beer on the wall, one fell down, 98 bot . . .

Good Day!

Oh yes, today was a better day than yesterday. The morning started on a note a bit better than yesterday and improved as the day went on. I'm feeling pretty good as of now and actually have a couple of missions at work to look forward to.


And as an added bonus, check out what I received at the end of the day! A research student just returned from a month long trip to his home country of Egypt an returned with this as a gift to me. HOW COOL !!! Click on it for a larger image. It's made of traditional papyrus paper. An enclosed paper reads (in Arabic, English, and French):

We guarantee that papyrus planted and made in our factory farm is an Egyptian craft it has the same chemical and physical qualities that our ancient Egyptian papyrus had. It has the same fibers. The dark legenic sells the horizontal and vertical lines, its ability to be rolled in addition to long life. Colour, coat, and use the typewriter.

How Cool! This will be on the wall pretty darn quick. Otherwise at this point I'm going to voice an opinion to the following headline I read earlier just before leaving work: Rosie wants "Price is Right" job. Oh C O M E O N !! I say no, No, Not NO, FUCK NO. It's class and character that has been keeping that show running all these years. Stick with the recipe folks. There! Mighty has spoken.

OK, time to sit back for a short bit, then start playing with Javasript stuff. I didn't get around to it last night, but I do believe I got rid of the damn virus. Hope so anyways. I' return a little later with another COOL Random Photography picture, so hang tight. Okay?!

Downtown Mighty

After a stroll downtown this evening, I think I'm ready for some R & R. I swung by home a bit after work then headed toward the tall buildings downtown. Gave me a chance to walk around and look for some photo opportunities. As you can see, the buildings are pretty tall for around here. Still, nothing like other large cities, but multistory non-the-less. Two things remain this evening before I hit the sack. That would be FOOD - no surprise there, and play around with the javascript stuff a bit. One other thing remains is to get rid of this pesky trojan-win32.mx virus I've managed to pick up. I tried something I found on-line earlier today, but no luck. Have to try harder!

Dinner you ask? Why it's going to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

The only other interesting tid-bit is someone again asked me about school this morning. Well I wasn't in a good mood to begin with and that question was bad timing. Add to the fact that the person who asked is leaning toward my shit list as of late. He's not officially on it, but he's not too far away either. So I managed to drag myself through the rest of the day after that. The effects of that question didn't last long as there where other things that played a bigger part in dragging me down. So let's not talk about it too much and just hope that tomorrow is ah better day. OK!

Sunday Night

Creative title, eh. Just chilling after the folks left. Didn't get to see their new car though, as they are having some other work done on it. I'll post a picture when I can. Otherwise, a pretty good Sunday. Got the laundry done, changed the sheets on the bed, and everything is put away. I've got a pot roast in the oven right now. I just checked it and I think another half hour will do. We'll see.

At this point, I think it's a good time to just kick back on the couch. I haven't yet decided whether I will watch a move, read more into the javasript book, or something else. I guess I'll decide on the fly.

Cheers all.

Blankets

And just how many blankets do you have? I'm finally bitting the bullet and changing my bed sheets to cotton. After looking at the stack, I didn't realize I had this many. And this doesn't count the one that goes on the bed or the two I have on the couch.

Learning - Movies - Surfing

How about a mid morning post instead of a late Saturday night post. After all it is 9:19am. Doesn't that qualify as a mid morning post? Hmmmm. I suppose that depends largely on what time zone your body clock runs on. Anyways, did I mention it was already 9:22am in the morning?! Got to get some laundry going pretty soon.

In any event, I uploaded last nights Random Photography picture around 10:30pm. Getting kind of late for me, but still not too bad for a weekend. For some reason, I wasn't in the mood to post anything other than giving you all a new photo to lull over. I'm curious how long I'll be able to keep up with this photo thing. I've been uploading a new photo to the blog every day now for the last 21 day's. I'll have to say that I've gotten into the whole photography thing a lot since I got the digital camera. It definitely allows one to take pictures like a pro. You know - carelessly move the camera around while while you hold your finger down on the auto advancing clicker. Then lull for hours over your shots looking for The One. I know my camera has already paid for itself in savings for 35mm film and development. We'll have to see how long I can hold out before I buy a newer, fancier camera, since the thought has crossed my mind on several occasions.

So, where did my day go yesterday? I left home around 7:40am and returned around 10:20pm. I started the day by taking a class on Javascript programming. Since I started this blog, I've become interested in learning how to manipulate it. I know that Java only represents an itsy bitsy tini winni part of the who web programming picture, but every little bit adds up. It was a coworker who signed up for the class that clued me into it so I decided to go for it. This is a two day class with day two happening next Saturday.

After the class, my friend asked if I had anything planned for the night and with a resounding answer of NO, headed over to another friend/coworkers house for a Boston Chicken dinner and movies on their BIG screen television. The first movie was Pulse. Very similar to The Ring. In this horror flick taking place at a college, two smart guys designing communication devices find new frequency bandwidths they never knew existed. Unfortunately (yes there is always a down side in movie land), this also happens to be a port hole through which some not so friendly beings can cross into our world and suck the life out of us. As is the usual case, our hero is this Hot. Fine. Little college female. I'll stop here. After all, I wouldn't want to give away an ending you've seen coming already, now would I. OK, the second movie was Mom and Dad Save the World. A comedy space flick in which "mom and dad" are headed out for a vacation and are taken by the leader of another planet that wants to make the wife his wife just before he destroys planet earth with his powerful weapon. You know where this is going. Good Fun.

After getting back home, I thought I was going to post a new photo and hit the couch, but instead I got to surfing some pointless stuff that just happened to be pleasing to the eyes. Hmmmm!

Well that's it for now. Time to get that laundry ready and get the rest of the morning going. My mom got a new car Friday, so I'm sure she is wanting to show it off. Will probably check it out today. See ya!

Friday NIght

It's a new post. On a Friday night! Yeah, yeah, yeah, put a sock in it Mighty. I hear ya, I hear ya. So looks like you got blessed with a rope tonight. The rope is something I got some eons ago for exercise purposes. Trust me, it never saw any such activity. I think it has seem a dark space most of the time. Take that back . . . all of the time. Good thing I had it or else you might have had to put up with another photo of the sky! Oh NO, not again! Well your not out of the woods yet cause there's more sky to come. Brace yourself!

Morning Update

It made the local news. Turns out there was a shooting at a bar down the street. They are still looking for a suspect in this region of town. The radio says the intersection at that bar is closed, so I guess I'm going to work a little differently today.

Correction

The helicopters back.

Police

Well this mornings excitement is this - I woke up at 3:00 am to hear a helicopter circling outside high above my apartment complex shinning a spot light just on the other side of a building. There was a police car at the end of my street with flashing lights going. And as of now (6:30), the lights are still going. Helicopter is gone. Might have to pick up today's paper.

Pointless

Hello folks. Here Mighty is poised to babble about absolutely nothing. Can you believe it? That Mighty would actually waste your time with posting a post that says nothing at all and is all about nothing. Well believe it folks! And this blog is here to prove it. So mark your calenders. When you see a blog entry that starts out something like this, you know right away that your time could be spent better else where. After all, time is a valuable thing, is it not. Ask yourself, does reading a blog that contains pointless babble read faster than an entry that contains real content? I knew it! Pointless babble is just that - pointless.

IBS
Idle time is never wasted time. For it promotes rest and reflection.

Tight

Talk about air tight. I just opened up the jump drive package and it hissed at me. SCaRY!

Maybe News

Hello folks. How'z it go'en? Good I hope. So today was a good day at work. Yet again, stuff to do seemed to fall out of the sky. Which is good seeing how this morning, I was wondering what the hell I was going to do today. I like it that way. Now what I'm I going to do tomorrow? Fuck if I know. I guess I'll find out when I walk in the front door.

News Flash !!! Sprint to Office Max. They got 2GB Verbatim jump drives on sale for 20 bucks. Scored one at lunch today. I know, I know. Next week 4GB's will probably be on sale for 10 bucks. Oh well :(

So I hunted down the medical benefits hand book tonight. I also threw out a bunch of crap as well! I pulled down the box that has my important papers and started rummaging through it. Why the hell do I still have this? Old car insurance papers and medical benefit info. Let me tell ya, the box was a whole lot lighter when I put it away. Time for a recycle run. OK, back to the subject - medical benefits hand book. I searched through for info on patient payment responsibility and sure enough, the $600 I owe is just about the right amount based on the pay plan. My plan caps out at $1500 / yr, so everything over that is covered. So . . . I'm really happy to owe $600 relatively speaking.

Welp, that's about all the news that might be news that could be considered news. Ha. See ya.

New eyes please

I tell you I really must get back to exercising my eyes on a regular basis. I usually refer to it as a need to stretch my eyeballs and for good reason.

I do suffer from nearsightedness and have worn glasses since I was wee high (actually around eleven years old, give or take a year or two). Anyways, a couple of years ago, I got interested in the concept of improving your eyesight naturally based on something I heard, saw, or something; I don't quite remember. So, in my research, I decided to give the Rebuild Your Vision program a try. When I received the package, I devoured the book and began my religious quest to practice the exercises outlined in the book. And let me tell you, I did see improvement. It was not immediate, but in several months, I really began to notice changes. The was many times that I simply could not believe that I was able to see something better or see greater detail from a distance.

Well, as time passes, things get busy, and guess what? You guessed it right, I started slacking off. I've noticed my vision gradually degrading over the last several months, and know that I've got to bite the bullet and buckle down again stretching my eyeballs on a more regular basis. The program claims it only takes 25 minutes. It always took me longer unless I shortened the outlined times for the exercises. Another reason why it would take me longer is because I began to incorporate other exercises I learned about from my research. At its high point, I might spend close to an hour each night.

As it stands, my vision without glasses is still better than it ever was in recent years before I started the exercises. But, I need to pull out of this lazy snap and get back on track with it. So I know I've probably sounded like a sales man here, but it's only my experiences. As said earlier, it took many weeks to start seeing changes. Not near as fast as the folks pitching the product on their home page.

And the funniest part of this thing, is that about six months after I started the program, another company, The See Clearly Method, started a heavy radio advertising sprint. Interesting timing I think. So get ready to stretch your eyeballs! I'll list some exercises for you to work on in the coming days, weeks, whenever. You try them out. GOT IT!

So your fist homework assignment is to do some of your own research into the subject. Your going to find a lot of info out there. Some free, mostly sales pitches. But there is stuff freely out there. That's how I ended up going from 30 min to an hour!

Secure the Flag!

And here it is - Tuesday, the twelfth day of June. It was yet another cloudy, cool, day in the Land of Enchantment. Again, more strangeness to this odd summer. Although that could be turning around. I spoke to the weather channel (my mom) earlier tonight and she says the weather is suppose to be getting warmer going into the weekend. Supposedly, into the 90's. Oh Yeah! Bring it on! I for one am ready for the heat. Of course, I'm fully aware that I'll probably be crying once it gets here, but hey!, at least it might start to feel like a normal summer for once.

In other news, I got a new medical bill in the mail. And I tell ya, I'm going to have to research the benefits on this one. Six hundred bucks I owe! That is, out of a $2000 total bill. I really should not be crying, but I'm still going to make a phone call or two. Investigative research I tell you.

On the camera front, I'm beginning to wonder where it might be legal to take a picture. I got questioned again today on my lunch time photo safari. This one happened where I got today's random photo. I had taken some artsy fartsy angle shots out in the entryway courtyard and was working on the flag when a building security guard came out and told me that this was private property and I needed to get permission from inside before I could take pictures. He asked what I was taking pictures of. I told him and then he replies if that was all I needed. I said yes and asked if he'd like to see the shots I'd taken. He said no, that's fine. Then walked back toward his post. I left the scene. In the end, he was cool about it. But . . . am I that naive? Is it 9-11. What's the deal?

And as a last note, I'll have to say that I nearly put the weather channel to sleep just by talking. So I've come up with this little diddly. Sing along to the tune of Rock-a-by Baby:

Rock ah by mommy,
On the telephone,
Which way her head rocks
No one will know.

OK, OK, the rest of the tune slips me, but y'all get the idea. - Cheers!

Gun Shot Fuckers

And I don't believe it. Some asshole just drive by the turn off to my street firing a gun. Many shots. A few minutes later, I could hear them firing more shots some distance away. I initially took a walk out to the main street to see if there was some poor soul lying on or to the side of the street. Fortunately, there was no one.

Fuck'en Assholes!

Artzy Fartzy Mighty

Here is a crafts project I've been working today. It is from stuff for a project I conceived last summer but never got around to.




Now if I can only keep the dust off it.

Day Start

It's Sunday morning, and you know what that means . . . . Breakfast!

Sweet Sunday Waffles
2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 egg yolks, well beaten
2 cups milk
1/2 cup melted butter
3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Mix all dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients except egg whites. Combine wet and dry stuff. Fold in egg whites. Bake in waffle iron.

Mmmmmmmmmmm Gooooooooood.

Now the dishes. Mmmmmmmmmmmm BAD.

Photo shoot - kind of

It's Saturday night and I'm chilling out with the music of Joan Armatrading's "What's Inside" CD. Loading it into the iTunes player. Adding it to my own brand of listing pleasure. While at it, enjoying the great taste of Hornsby's Hard Apple Cider. And not just any cider I tell you; it's Amber Draft. I can't hardly stand wheat based beers, but hard apple cider gets my vote of approval. And since I'm such a lightweight, I can already feel the buzz AFTER ONLY one of these guy's. And at the moment, the other thing I feel is a need to relieve myself! So if you will excuse me for a moment . . .

Oh that's much better. Thank you.

OK! So what else is new? Well, not much. The day has been pretty slow and relaxing. Spent the afternoon with my mom and brother. If your thinking that it seems as if I hang out with my mom and brother almost every weekend, your absolutely right. And for that matter, if my mom had her way, I'd be moving back into her home in Rio Rancho, NM. And as most of you will attest, after having a brush with freedom after leaving the nest, there is NO turning back; even though I love my mom dearly.

Before that though, was a run to Hobby Lobby this morning to hit on a female employee there. I'd been making several trips to the store over the last week or so in an effort to make a move on her. YES! She was there today at the cash register. I lined up with my goods in her line (hey, who cares how long the line is) and proceeded to wait. Unfortunately, the ladies in front of me where buying out the store. It's like standing in line at the grocery store. Everyone around you has 10 items or less EXCEPT for the person who is stocking up for the month. What luck! I ended up getting called to another line. Awe Shit! Well after dumping my stuff in the car, I made a u-turn and got lucky enough to find her just finishing up with the last customer in her line. Now's my chance. Unfortunately, she indicated that she falls under the looks much older than she is category. I place her in her mid to upper 20's. She says . . . 18. Ouch. Oh yeah, I see it now, "I'm your father, let's go out for a date." I don't think so.

So aside from that, the only other bit of excitement was an incident hanging with the folks at the park today. As Mighty is getting into this random photography thing, I find myself constantly searching for a photo shoot opportunity. Well there was one that looked promising at the park. A setup of tables for some party or something. I proceeded to take a few broad view pictures of the event. Later while hanging out at camp, one person from the group came over and asked with a stern voice what I was doing taking the pictures. I told him I was just interested in his party setup and that was it. He asked again if that was my only desire. Why yes. He then says something to the affect don't be messing with the girls. No more pictures. "Okay. Understood." He then returns to his camp. Unknown lesson for me - ask before taking pictures of other people. I can see were he is coming from now that I think about it. Lesson learned and I'm glad that this lesson only resulted in a mildly unpleasant verbal confrontation.

Other than that, shopped at a few stores and made dinner here at home with mom and brother. So here we are blogging after a bit of a talk with K. It's now 10:50 and I think it's time to get this post formatted and posted. Chill out where ever you are. It's all Good. Cheers.

Quick! Hide!

And here we are. New Random Photo is up and labels applied. So, what's to babble about now from the land of Mighty? Well, after picking up a copy of the Alibi . . . if your straight . . .

Quick!
Hide!
Lock your doors!
Stay inside!
Only speak to the people you know!
Keep your pants on!
Dress modestly!
Hide your flowers!
Stash the rainbows!
Dump the crayons!

It's Pride week in Albuquerque !!!!!

I don't mind the folks, mind you. Just don't make a move on me! GOT IT.

Peace in YOU

Just got home from work. Have you ever left work and decided to drive the most crooked, longest route you could conjure up as you drove home? Yep. That was my drive home. Just in a mood to take my time and come up with a different way to get to the ole homestead.

Although I'm over it now, I ran into a guy a work today I have not seen in a long time. This guy works on a piece of equipment we have a service contract on. So. Ran into him and spent a little time catching up on the latest. As it turns out, he (along with everyone else on planet earth) (OK OK - in my spherical world) knows that I am taking classes and asked how that effort was going. Well I didn't really know how to answer him and sort of beat around the bush with sorta kinda hinting kinda that things had not been going well on that front. The thought of how to answer the question sort of added to my already bummed mood at the time. [While this morning was productive, I got into a bout of what do I do now? after a later than usual lunch. I hate being in that mode of operation.] Anyways, now that you have some background info, you got the insight for the following:

IBS
Do not judge how others might criticize your actions, for ultimately, your internal peace rides higher than their demoralizing words.

And besides . . . they just might be on your side.

Okay. Time to lighten up as I guess this post is weighing on me again. How about Paris Hilton?!! Get back in that cell!

Okay, break for a grocery run. Be back soon with a new random photo for the day and some babble from unknown origins.

Donate Who?

And here we are on a cool'ish Thursday night. It was pretty windy out today, but thankfully, has calmed down as the evening has come around. And I'll say that the wind had a chilly nip to it. What's up with that? (a) the wind should be long gone by now, (b) the daytime temps should be getting into the mid to upper 90's by now, and (c) it's too damn cloudy. So summer is starting out rather strange. Granted, we had a strange winter, and now this. Again, what's up with that? I know I know, it's all part of global warming right. Maybe the gods have it in for us or something . . . or something not, or maybe . . . hell, I don't know!

So far the evening has been uneventful. Been reading a book on HTML programming to see if I can learn a thing or two. K's offered to teach me some ins and outs of it, so I'll certainly be sucking on her brain. I've had one phone call from a charity wanting me to donate (of course) to the Association for the Deaf and Blind (or something along those lines). I told the guy that I currently donate to the National Federation of the Blind and I'm happy to donate to a group cause, but not to every flavor of that group. And his response was (not surprising) that they don't serve just the blind, but the deaf and blind; a very under represented group. Okay man, whatever. So, this is going to lead me to how I've chosen to deal with the whole charity/donation thing. As it gets harder to keep track of who I've donated to in that every Tom, Dick, and Harry wants your dollar. I'm happy to help out and figure if I can afford to spend 50 bucks for two for dinner, then I can afford to help out a charity.

So . . . here's how it works. I chose one organization per month. That's it! Simple! I keep the envelop and label it with the month and amount I donated. Stack'em up. After twelve months, rotate through the envelops. (1) keeps it simple, (2) allows me to tell group types that I already give to a similar organization, and (3) helps me keep track of repeat organizations that call back with their Fall, Spring, and Mother's Day drive specifying how great it was that I helped them out last year. Hey, it works for me!

300 - Round Two

For the second time! What a movie! Just saw it again with my brother. This movie ranks right up there with the other two great movies of our generation . . . Tron and Kill Bill. I hope I don't go through with drawl symptoms if I don't get my 300 fix. But wait, DVD's just around the corner! That's it. I've got to plan this carefully. Let's see, find a store and the date it will arrive. Next, start camping outside the store around 6pm the night before. Bring plenty of food and water. And oh, I can't forget the porto pottie and curtain. Come Spartans. Join me in my quest.

How a month goes by.

Well it's been a month since I had my hyperparathyroid surgery. It seems like it's been a lot longer. The final bit of tenderness around the incision is healing just fine. Not to gross anyone out or anything, but I thought I would show a couple of photo's. The first is the day of the surgery, May 2nd, and the second is today.





The doctors say that if I massage it for 30 minutes daily and keep the sunblock on it over the summer, it should be barely visible by the Fall. I'm looking forward to that. Other than that, just keeping up with the blood pressure meds and taking calcium supplements. Doctor says that on average, the bones rebuild themselves the most in the first six months after this type of surgery. What I'm referring to is the increase in bone density due to calcium absorption.

Well, the only other thing on my mind now is this pesky message from Qwest (my new landline phone carrier) when you call someone and the line is busy. Long gone are the short toned pulses that are the hallmark of the line is tied up. Now a friendly female voice answers The line is busy. For an additional 75 cents, Qwest can continue to try the line and call you when it is available. I think my fingers work just fine thank you very much.

Looks like it's about time for a late night bite. So I think I'll tidy up this post and get the jaws exercising. Cheers.

Help me choose

But first . . . Dinner!

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous
1 lb. skinned, boned chicken breast halves
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp salt
Vegetable cooking spray
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 (16 oz.) can no-salt added chicken broth
1 cup frozen English peas, thawed
1 cup couscous, uncooked
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1) Cut chicken lengthwise into 1 inch wide strips. Combine the four spices and rube into the chicken.

2) Coat large skillet with cooking spray and add oil. Bring to med-high heat. Add garlic and chicken, Cook until browned. Add broth and peas. Bring to boil, reduce heat and cook until chicken is done. Add, couscous and remove from heat. Cover for 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with cilantro. Pig-out!

3) Clean up your mess!


Okay. Now that our bellies are satisfied . . . lets get into the main event of this post - Help me choose. As mentioned in a previous post, I'd like to make some covers for my entertainment setup. I ventured into a fabric store earlier today and walked away with several pattern samples. Check them out in the photo. Click to get a larger picture.


I'd like the pattern to complement the wood stain as the parts of the entertainment stand will continue to be visible even with the covers in place. I don't want it to be tool loud, but not too boring either. We'll call the pattern on the left number 1, and move to the right from there. Note that pattern 3 does have a snippet of a pattern in the lower section. That's the best I could get out of them, but I can't complain either since they are free samples. Also, pattern 2 is a tropical layout.

Thanks. Signed - Undecided.

Dream

As Monday morning starts, I had the weirdest dream this morning. And let me tell you, I cannot remember the last time I had a dream. I originally woke up a little after 6, then fell asleep again until around 8:20. The dream had several parts.

(1) I'm in a room in which I have to paint a yellow line to "outline" a circle. Inside the circle is a stand with a bird cage. The original method I chose to paint the circle did not produce a perfect circle. That is, the ending line does not match the starting line of the circle. This other person comes in and is angry that the circle is not true, at which point I have this thought of painting the line by drilling a hole in the floor in the center of the circle, then using the string and paintbrush trick. While all this is going on (the conversation with angry person), the bird is going wild in the cage and escapes; rocking the cage and stand while this is going on.

(2) Then the dream jumps to me sitting at a computer. I'm looking at some program that gives me access to many peoples email accounts. One catches my eye and I click on it. Email entries start to download. Turns out there are over 1000 entries that will be downloaded while the person only had a few messages that had been viewed. Since this will obviously be a while, I decide to go to bed. I wake up the morning in a place different from my current home. It's like I live in one of these plush lofts you see on T.V. Rich type. The computer stand is at the end of the bed with folding covers around it. I move the covers to gain access to the computer and it is GONE. I step into the living room, and the room is trashed. You know, someone trashed it while they were looking for something.

(3) I'm not sure if this part is related to (2) or not. The scene then jumps to a dark room that looks something like a farmers barn with some wood tables and a few other objects. There are two flaming "beings" fighting. I say beings, because they were covered in fire! Something like the flaming guy in Fantastic Four. Anyways, they are smaller than humans, maybe half to 3/4 height. They are fighting in the air, bouncing off the walls, doing Kung Fu moves, twist and fancy acrobatic maneuvers (ya know, Jet Li). Then they are standing on the floor near a table. One grabs the other by the neck and lunges forward. At that moment, a ray of light comes through the wall and causes pain to one who is having his neck choked. In clear agony, he begins to morph, growing larger in size and also changing his appearance to a human form. At this moment, I sense that the whole fight is some sort of good verses evil in which the good guy is fighting to save me and . . . is the one who is in pain and morphing.

And then I wake up. Weird.

Petroglyphs

Well it's Sunday night. My mom and brother just left about 30 minutes ago. We had a good day out. Went to the Petroglyph National Monument here in Albuquerque, NM. We spent about 1.5 hours doing one trail in the afternoon and decided we should come back another time - maybe in the Fall! Perhaps we'll do it again in the summer, but it will certainly have to be in the morning. Here are a couple of pictures to whet your interest.





Although the park ranger said the trail we chose would have close to 600 Petroglyphs to view, we came up a little shy of that number. We didn't do the whole trail and also didn't spend too much time in any one given spot. I felt like heading back to the visitors center and telling Ranger that 25 could be viewed with the naked eye. We would need binoculars to see the other 575. And for that matter, we wondered how many rock carvings are only visible from the top of any given rock and not from the trail. I'm sure we'll try the Rinconada Canyon Trail again.

After that, we paid a visit to an Asian food market, ate Vietnamese food, then made pit stops at Wally World and K-mart. All in all, a pretty good afternoon. Got to get outside and hang out with mom and my bro.

As a side note, even I'll have to say that I'm amazed at the random photo I've posted. A little bit of luck I would say. The right side image is looking into an empty home up for sale, the left side of the image is the reflection off the window of the front yard area. LUCK I tell ya.

Well that's it for this post. Cheers All - and oh, I'm taking tomorrow off of work! I could get used to this . . . short work weeks and all . . .

Action

IBS
Yesterday I dreamed.
Today I planned.
Tomorrow I will act.

Only then will personal fulfillment be satisfied even in the face of failure.

Don't ask

It's Saturday.
It's 12:47pm.
It's after noon.
It's sunny out.
It's as blue as blue can be.
It's warm.
It's great!
It's getting warmer.
It's even better.
It's getting better.
It's another day today.
It's another day tomorrow.
It's what you see.
It's what you hear.
It's how you perceive.
That's gonna be
What you dream.

Bingo!

Let me tell ya folks, the show ain't mak'en it. Concept: Bingo revamped and pumped up with the excitement of the NBA Playoffs. Game play: a really big ball has smaller bingo balls blown around inside it. A player pushes a button which will randomly pull a ball. Play Bingo! Thrill factor 1: There's a pool table with a hot hot hot pool playing professional babe that will cue the balls in as the bingo numbers are called. Using trick shots if necessary. Thrill factor 2: If anyone in the crowd calls bingo, games over. The person in the crowd wins money and player on the stage goes home empty. If a bingo number is drawn in which a pool table ball number cannot be cued in, there are four chances for this to happen until game is over. Thrill factor 3: the announcer is (a) bald, and (b) has an Australian accent. (I guess bald is IN because the other show Deal or No Deal has a bald announcer. Not that I've ever watched it.) There's more to it and I may have some aspects incorrect as I was half watching it and having a conversation with K. on the phone and I didn't really feel inclined to watch it longer than necessary to get its gist.

Bottom line - as with all of the more recent game shows on television, Mighty says it ain't happen'en. Change the channel please. And just what is it with the popularity of these types of shows? I'll never know. And don't even get me started on the whole slew of reality shows. It only makes me wonder where television will sink to next. (maybe I don't want to know)