Busy

Dear Folks,

This week has been somewhat busy. Saturday was a trip to the Grants, NM area to look for camping spots. Found a couple based on the map, but did not care too much for either. One was at a lake, another at a monument. Turned out to be a long day.

Sunday was chore day followed by a Randy Travis concert in the evening. See, local country radio station KRST was celebrating thirty years of radio, so they put on a concert of four country acts with Randy Travis as the head liner. Mr. Travis put on a really good show. Too bad the crowd was light. A shame.

Monday was back to work, but followed by a Singles Meetup at the local triple A baseball club, the Albuquerque Isotopes. Half of me wanted to go with the prospect of meeting someone and the R&R opportunity while the other half just wanted to go home. I surmised that I'm not going to meet anyone if I lock myself in at home. Nothing materialized though.

Tuesday was a pretty standard day. Work, cook evening meal, wash dishes, and feel distressed over all the things I'd like to do, but at the same time, take no action on it.

For today, I left work for a dentist appointment at 3:30. Turns out I have cavities. Yes, those dreaded cavities. Will go back in at the beginning of October to take care of two and then polish off the other two at my next six month general checkup / cleaning. Then it was off to visit mom since, relatively speaking, she was just down the street. She lives in Rio Rancho, NM which is where my long time dentist practices. We went out for supper. Mexican food. Ate too much as usual. A little bit miserable. Just finished up cooking a dish to hold me over several days and finally nailed that black widow I spoke of in a recent post.

On an odd note, I've got this sudden urge to start taking math classes again at the local community college. Start at the beginning - 2 plus 2 anyone? Don't ask me where this is coming from.

Take care folks,
Regards
Mighty

Garden Falls

Here's a garden update for you. Lets start with the butternut squash. Putting on a few flowers, but no fruit yet.

Another squash.



The black beans. The dead leaves are not from the plant. I picked them up from around to use as mulch.

The small red beans.

I've added more to the garden last weekend (really about 9 day's ago) in the section of the failed rice. I planted some radishes, green leaf lettuce, snap peas, and bell pepper. All have come up except the bell pepper.

And look at this on my patio!

This is a big fucker. I've had black widows on my patio for many years. I got a new wood fence a couple of years ago and they haven't been around. Last year, one I think. But this summer, they are back with a vengeance.

Now on to a little peace and tranquility. Visited the Jemez Falls this last weekend. Here's a pool side pic.

Very serene.

And at last, the Jemez Falls.

life -n- death

"Yet I, for one, believe that there is a complement to everything. With youth, comes age. With time, there is space. And with birth, there is death. There are constants that impact our lives that a pill cannot change. Aging remains a subtle, no doubt vital, part of our progression to this mortality. We spend all of our time trying to avoid death when, truth be told, we don't even know when death happens."

Ben Jones in the opinions column commenting on the apparent desire of most folks to live longer, if not forever young. (Source: The Daily Lobo, University of New Mexico, "Longer life - but do we want it?", volume 113, issue 162, (July 27-Aug 16,2009), page 4)

By Request

The Butterfly Pavilion at the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens:









No butterfly's here, but still pleasing the eyes.

Safe Journey

Had lunch today with my friend from India. Spirits where both high and low during our time together. He is working to crate (wood box) his most prized positions for friends here to ship to him when he gets settled in back in India. He plans on leaving next week Sunday or Monday on a train trip to California to see his parents for a week. They have U.S. citizenship. He'll also visit old college friends as well. Then it is off to India. He says that once he leaves, INS will not allow him back into the USA, even for a visit/vacation. That brings extra sadness to him. If he could return for vacations, his departure would be more upbeat.

As I said before, not much I can do for him but wish him well. I was really at a loss for words most of the time.

Recall that I said in my other email that he had not obtained an educational front? Well, I was incorrect. I recall a conversation a month or so ago with him in which he indicated that he did secure an educational position toward a PhD with a professor where I work, but the time span to renew for a change of status was running short. Did not know if there would be enough time for the application to go through and for that matter, for INS to approve it. Well, we know the answer now.

I spoke to a mutual friend about two weeks ago who said [his] friends from India are indicating that there will be heavy pressure for him to find a wife. I guess it must be part of Indian culture. Mind you, as long as I've known him, he has never shown an interest in finding a companion. His interest have mainly centered around math and physics. And he's got the brain for it. Really knows his stuff.

Here's to you RP. Hope peace finds you at the end of your journey.

Well, in lighter happenings, after lunch, I took a trip to the Botanical Gardens to check out the Butterfly Pavilion. Photo's next time. I also made pit stops to several bicycle shops and an automotive parts store. Projects to follow.

Projects on tap:
1) Continue cleaning up the pig pin.
2) Fix and shine two bicycles for donation.
3) Do some basic automotive maintenance on my car.
4) Get a handle on the finances.

Number 4 basically means starting a ledger tracking my expenses. The thought of looking to buy a home has been crossing my mind as of late, so I guess I'll need to know where I'm blowing my money. If I still feel the same in six months to a year, then I'll have the data to show if I can handle it financially.