Giving Thanks

I'll include another quick post here on something that has been on my mind since I sat down to eat with the family. That being . . .

that I can not help but think about the hundreds of tons of food that we, in the USA, will throw away today while hundreds of people in Dar fur and other such places will die from malnutrition. What a shame that we take for granted that which we have so much of.

Peace - Mighty.

Christmas

And a very Merry Christmas to you all. I'm at my folks house now. We had a very nice Christmas this morning. Lots and lots of goodies to go around. Traditionally, when we were young, our parents did not buy much stuff for us during the year. Teaching us that we could not have everything we wanted which instilled a lesson in us that we need to consider what we do buy very carefully. And trust me, kicking and screaming did us no good - except maybe for a good swift kick in the butt. We may not have gotten much during the year, but Christmas was the made up for it. It was the mother lode. Birthday's were good too. So I know I have no complaints. This year was not different. I've got arm fulls of stuff to take home with me.

For my gifts, they were themed this year: Miley Cyrus RULES !!! I got so many gifts related to her. I'll go over the listings later. But for now, I've got to get back to cooking supper. The dish is in the oven, but needs a little TLC now.

So with that in mind, hope your Christmas was great. See Ya! Mighty.

Moutains

Nothing like rolling by a little snow capped Sandia Mountains. Was out toward the mountains Saturday shopping when I took this.

Being this close to the Sandia's provides a good view of the antenna's at the top.

Certainly how Albuquerque communicates.

So last night, I'm watching the show Hero's. Now last week, the ending of the show says "Don't miss the season finally next week." So at the end of last nights episode, they state that the new season of Hero's starts in January. Complete with previews. To me the end of a season means its going to be at least four to six months before new stuff comes out. Confused. Unless this is how they rope you in for the next episode.

In sad news, my brothers pet parakeet passed away suddenly this Saturday.

Watched House and Fringe tonight. I like the two television shows and am even more happier that they are air the same nights and back to back. But that will change in January as House moves to Monday's, but Fringe stays on Tuesday's. Bumerrrrrrr.

Looking forward to lunch tomorrow as it is the bosses annual staff lunch at some swank restaurant. Again, it will be at Yanni's. It's an Italian joint. Good food and for the price I'm getting it, better enjoy EVERY bite.

And on the Christmas front, took an inventory of the gifts I got to go around and I've got a little bit more shopping to do. Darn. Got to wrap and finish up some craftsy projects for gifts. I'm taking Friday off of work, so I'll hopefully make a lot of progress then. One funny thing about the inventory, seems as if I've done more shopping for me than for them - one for them, two for me, one for them, two for . . . .

Hi

Hello Folks. Yes I'm still around. Had a good Thanksgiving with the family and a relative that visited from out of town. Otherwise, the weekend was pretty uneventful. Just the way it should be.

Here's a funny first paragraph from a newspaper article with a print date of 11/14/08.

Headline: Priest: No communion for Obama Supporters

Columbia, S.C. - A south Carolina Roman Catholic Priest has told his parishioners that they should refrain form receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Barack Obama because the Democratic president-elect supports abortion and supporting him "constitutes material cooperation with the intrinsic evil."

Blah, blah, blah for the rest of the article.

Weeks Education

Another week has passed us all by. So what have I learned in the past week?

1) Stay the hell away from red wine - got an invite to the house of a guy I work with at work on Tuesday night for BBQ and drinks. He had a lot of beer. Since I'm not a beer guy, I opted for some wine he had on hand - Merlot if you've got to know. Oh Man!!!! Wednesday morning was not pleasant.

2) If your a guy interested in sewing, bring a pair of tits when you go to the fabric store. I've been going in that direction and have visited a couple of fabric stores. Questions to the [female] staff are met with a strange stare and short answer responses. It gets even weirder when you hit the cashier with . . . . sewing supplies?.

3) I think the cold simply puts me to sleep. I've set my heater to 63 F. Based on the indicator, the system is maintaining a temperature of 60 to 62. I don't even have to study and I'm finding myself getting very sleepy early. As early as 9 sometimes, mostly around 10. Very unlike my summer days. Maybe that contributed to my difficulty in studying in the past.

4) Never tell the [work] boss about a deadline you've got to meet. We've got this event coming up December 1st. I indicated to the boss the prep work I've got to do for it and it's GOT to be done next week due to the Holiday. He turned around and sent an email with an executive order to complete said work next week due to the facts that I mentioned. Never mind the fact that I was already up to speed.

Class is over.

Results

Auto junkyard - didn't find what I wanted. Did find blue sky and plenty of sunshine though.

Arts-n-crafts - noth'en there either.

Classmate - hand off of notes successful.

In other news, looks like we are going to get more company around the end of February for a week or so.

Friday Again

Yep. Another Friday is here. Went out for a drink and chow with my work partner after work tonight. Had a Hard Apple Cider and a Baca Burger. Good stuff.

What's new . . . for one, my wallet is about $500 lighter. Put on a new set of tires for the car the other day. Had a blowout on the road which prompted the move. Should be good for another four years or so.

Dragged my bike from work home yesterday. This is the bike I used to travel from work to school for classes. Well, it's just been sucking up valuable bike rack space since May. Time to practice what I preach. That is to say that I would be rather uptight if I saw the same bike parked in the same slot every day with no movement. What a waist of space.

Will meet with a former class mate to drop off material for a class she will be taking next semester. It is a class that we took together, but she dropped about halfway through the course. So now she wants to snag my notes. Haven't heard from her since she dropped the class. Now she wants my notes. Doubt I'll see or hear from her after we meet tomorrow morning. I can't complain though as I know I do it to others as well. Speak on a "when I need something" basis.

Will go to an arts and crafts fair at a local high school tomorrow. Might also go to a junk yard tomorrow as well. There are a number of things I'd like to find for my car - passenger side visor, electric cigarette lighter (you would not believe how many friends you can make with one of these things), and back truck cover, and maybe what ever else looks interesting.

Nothing much else planned this weekend. Will spend some time at my moms house rearranging the living room furniture and putting up the Xmas tree. We have company coming in from out of town this year for Thanksgiving and I guess mom wants to be a bit more festive for the event. I'm now accepting bets on how fast it will come down after Christmas.

Happy Halloween!!

I bet there are a lot of post in blog land titled "Happy Halloween." Let me be the next to add to that list. As well as the host of other people who have uttered the words in your direction today.

Well the front office folks at work put out some food this morning.

I ate a stick of the corn tortilla roll and some of the the green chili stew. I also ate a mountain of the crackers and a few pieces of the fruit. Well something didn't settle in right as my tummy did not feel good the rest of the day. I ended up just working through lunch. I ate something around 7:00 tonight and I think that has settle in OK. It is finally beginning to feel better - or is that the V.S.O.P. helping? The world may never know.

Well the High School next to my work was in the Halloween spirit - JUST ADD AIR.

And while on the subject of Halloween, I went to a couple of Halloween parties last week Saturday. Here's my costume.

That's right, Caribbean Pirate. Spirit (the Halloween store) offered it for $29.95. At the cash register - $21.95. Oh YEAH! Bargain. At least I look sober in this pic. We won't mention later in the evening. Went to two parties. The first from about 7 to 10:30. The next . . . well, let's say that I did not go to bed until 5:30 - A.M. I think the last time I was up that late was at one of this gals parties last year. I did not start feeling normal until Tuesday. Well worth it cause the party was a blast!

It's time to start winding down here. Let's begin by floating into a bit of serenity.

Breath deep now because we are going to extend that serenity.

Oh YEAH! Isn't that better. Hope your Halloween was a blast. I'm going to chill a bit, then hit the sack. I took a walk around the neighborhood tonight to see all the ghost and goblins on All Hollows Night. Spooky stuff I tell ya.

Moutain Fall

Well, here we are again. Went out to look at the Fall colors this last weekend in the Santa Fe National Forest.




Looks like we kind of missed it.

On the bright side, the weather was GREAT! Could absolutely, positively, not ask for a nicer day. Then to top it off, I took Monday off of work. Still did not get all the things done I wanted to, but at least, made a dent in it. I could have used another day I tell ya. Oh well.

Its been a good week so far at work. No complaints there. Otherwise, time is cruising right on by. October is already coming to a close. I'm just not used to this much free time. But yet, I'm keeping myself busy and it is bedtime before I know it.

Speaking of before I know it, it's getting close to my late night snack. Gotta get ready. Chow!

Parking Lot

Ohhhhh!!! The freeway a parking lot. You'd better believe it. I've seen traffic backed up at this location, but never like this.

Now I'm sitting on the freeway interchange from I25 N to I40 W. Luckily, I was off at the next exit. AND - so were A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE. You see, this stretch of freeway is one of only three way's to get across the river to the West Side. Now the way to the next closest bridge across the river just happens to be on my way home! Can you see where this is going? Again, I've seen backups before where folks get off at my exit and go down a couple of streets, then back on the freeway. Leaving only a short bit of pain for me before I'm in the clear. Not today. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, was on their way to the next bridge. I skipped several streets hoping I knew more about my neighborhood then they do. Fat chance. Did I say I've never seen it this bad? It took me 40 minutes to get home. Normally, about 15 minutes when I leave work at the time I did.

In - other more pleasant news, the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta is going on. Took this yesterday at a stop light just off the freeway.

The Balloon Fiesta will be going on through Sunday. Unless we get more bad weather. Last Sunday morning's events were cancels due to rain and wind. The weather man yesterday said that a storm is rolling in Friday that may bring SNOW! Please not now, pleeeeeease. Not because the Fiesta is happening, but because I'm such a cold weather wimp.

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday too. Things are looking good and I'm going on a trial run going off the high blood pressure meds. Let's hope for the best folks.