Farewell

Farewell Luciano Pavarotti. I'm sure you will be missed by many.

Now run out and buy one of his album's. Don't forget to watch some of the retrospective shows on him that I'm sure will be airing in the coming weeks.

Otherwise . . . Rest in Peace Luciano.

Starting Over

Part of my Sunday PBS marathon was a repeat of Nova. The topic was hurricane Katrina which originally aired Tuesday night, the two year anniversary of the event. Later in the day was another one hour special that focused on several displaced families and their stories of return (well, only to gather personal treasures) and remembrance of family and the area culture.

That got me to wondering - what would it be like to start over. From the perspective that . . . one day, you simply walk away . . .

Perhaps packing a mid sized box with a few very personal items. Throw it in the car and drive away - no looking back - starting over.

Wanna Beef ?!

Well I took a lovely walk to the park today to get out a bit and do some R-n-R and homework. Hmmmm, guess what I did more of . . .

Anyways, while at the park, there was a little surprise I didn't expect to see. It started off with a group of Hispanic folks, young and middle aged, who arrived in a truck jumping out sounding tough and spitting out a number of swear words. They all gathered around a covered area in the distance. You can see it to the right in the photo. About five minutes later, here come a few more Hispanic folks. The two groups met in the center of the park. Two teens then went head-to-head. Clashing, throwing punches, went into a submission hold contest, then broke it and threw some more punches. All along, the rest of the group acted as cheerleaders! Hmmm. After it was all over, they called truce, gently butted fist, then talked like, "Lets hang out!" Well, that's what it sounded like anyway. From start to finish, less than five minutes. Other than that, pretty quite at the park.

Saturday was potluck day. I checked out this singles event from a local singles organization that put on a potluck. It was held at the organizers house. Nice event, but all older folks. I'm talk'en upper 40's and above. I showed interest in one gal that looked around 40 and she found her way around the bush so-to-speak. Oh well. Maybe next time. I initially had some hope as the event organizer told me he was glad to see me as he had a number of younger ladies say they were coming. I figure the Fall Crawl pulled them away. (The Fall Crawl is an annual music event downtown.)

Sunday was PBS day! I had it on PBS from about 8:45am to 10:30pm! Minus a short break for the news. Lots of good stuff. The most interesting was this detective show from England. It was called The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. I'm hooked! Count me in next week. It had story plot, reasonably / realistically timed events, and . . . character development. Oh Yeah.

Grasshopper

Grasshopper Speaks

Add new life to a disc you've listened to WAY too many times -

SHUFFLE

The Week in Review

Monday
Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Pillow please.

Yep folks, what a week. Not quite used to running these longer day's. Thursday was a nice study day. Although it felt weird to to 1) not be working, and 2) be on campus all day. We'll see how the coming weeks go. Regarding school, the instructor I have sort of sucks so far. He doesn't do too many examples, just shows some very basic principles needed to solve the problems, and then spends an inordinate amount of time talking about how much material we have to cover in a short period of time and repeating general administrative crap. And oh, he does encourage us to look over the examples before we attempt the homework. Oh Yeah!

The first instructor I had was man on a mission! From day one, buckle your seat belt cause we are gonna move. And sure enough . . . far better than this guy. Tough, but in exchange, he actually taught the class.

Well after a long week and a very hectic Friday, I checked out a new restaurant down here in the North Valley (the part of town I live in). The place is called the Sunshine Cafe.


I chose the Hummus & Toasted Pita Wedges dish. Part of their Light Fare selection. Good stuff. And the atmosphere? Pretty nice by my book.

Longer day's

Hoe de dow, la de da. Another day passes away. Thus begins day one of week 2 of school. And a work week for that matter. The only new item to report is I'm going on a four day work week. Me an my work partner are both doing it. I've never done this before, so this should be interesting. The idea is to give each of us an additional day to do the homework thing. You know, that pesky side effect of education. He is also taking classes. I think I will try taking Thursday's off, while my partner will take Friday's. Just have to get used to these longer work day's.

In other news . . . Oh wait . . . there is no other news.

Wedding Bells

Was out for a work related trip Thursday around lunch, and ran across this little treasure. The business is nestled in a housing area. This was at one of the residence.



Ah, a little piece of New Mexico for you. Very popular symbolism for those Christian Hispanics in the area.

Anyways, today has been a study day. Not too exciting I tell you. I will tell you that today was Wedding Day at the Duck Pond on campus. I stepped out of the library for a bite, and three different groups showed up at around the same time. They all picked a different spot around the pond. Well I guess they sort of had too. Then, when I left the library around 5, there was another group at the pond. Is this part of a late summer / early fall rush or something? The world will never know.

Supper, if your interested, well, I guess you don't have a choice, was Sloppy Joe's. Haven't had those in a while. Recipes are a dime a dozen, so your on your own. Ya gotta make it from scratch, GOT IT !! Non of this pre-mix package crap.

Parking Lessons

Went to see a movie after work. Saw Live Free and Die Hard. Yeah, John McClain really does have nine lives. At lease he gets roughed up. Not like 007. Ya know, Bond should have been dead a long time ago.

Anyways, I found this leaving the parking lot. Now I know I didn't park all that great. That's me on the right. But the other guy . . .

How fucked up is that! Good thing there was no one to the right of me.

2nd Day of School

Ahh the start of the Fall semester at the University of New Mexico. Where did this crowd come from?

And look, there was even entertainment as part of the Welcome Back special events this week.

Of course, this is all to make the students feel good. Like they've made a good choice to come back to UNM. Make them feel good right before reality sets in. What reality? Free times over! Time to set your schedule and stick to it. Ya know?

Warm Up

Look at what I woke up to this morning outside my bedroom window. Looks like a Balloon Fiesta warm up if you ask me.

What clued me before it came into view was the unmistakable sound of the blow torch heater that fills the balloon with hot air.

So I did some channel surfing on T.V. while I was in the middle of cooking supper and ran across this talent show on a Spanish channel. Mostly all youth, ranging in age from about 15 to the mid 20's. There posting the age as they perform. I don't understand a word they are saying, but 1) it's about the only thing on T.V., and 2) These Kids can really sing! You can generally tell good from bad singing regardless of know the language or not. The show is "something" TimBriche (they have a special icon with the words, so I might be missing a letter or two).

Well tomorrow starts the school thing again. Ahh the thrill of school. Gotta Love it! I suspect I'll be slacking more on the blog as a result. I know I know - slacker. Oh well. Time to get my pack ready for tomorrow and chill a bit more before I hit the sack.

Goodnight All.