"A good cook can be determined by the cleanliness of their cookbook. The messier (more stains &/or spills) the cookbook, the better the cook."

To the left is the "red demon", aka Pontiac Sunfire. At first it appeared to be a normal car. But it had no power to accelerate. That factor is quite important in this area of the country since mountains appear out of nowhere. During the journey back to Albuquerque, it poured. Visibility was minimal. However, we remained on the correct route through Ruidoso. About that time, Mike noticed the car shaking. Since he was in a heavily populated area, there was no "easy place" to stop the car. So they went uphill & down until they came to an empty road. At that point Brad noticed smoke from the back of the car. We pulled over to the side, and examined what was left of a right rear tire. On the bad side, we were still 200+ miles from home. On the good side, the rain had stopped. Also, the user's manual and necessary equipment were in the trunk to change the tire. However, there were screws from the hubcap to the tire, and another set from the tire to the car itself. In spite of all this, we were back on the road in about 30 minutes.We ate at the "original" Owl Cafe (emphasis on the word 'cafe') in San Antonio, NM, then retruned the car to the airport. We exchanged it for a Chevrolet Cavalier, which handled the road much better than the "red demon".

Etc.....

Why?

To the right is the "white demon", also known as the Mazda Protege. Similar story, similar fate but with a twist added. As we were driving south on 285, the 'check engine' light went on, and stayed on during the balance of the journey. We went over the mountains again on US 64 & then headed south to Santa Fe on US 84. As before, we were heading home and approaching Espanola, NM when we heard that oh-too-familiar sound of thumping. Over a hundred miles from home, and a right rear Firestone flat tire. We had to cross the road to find a large enough area to do repairs. Which we did, and immediately returned this car back to Hertz who gave us a Ford Escort. A decent vehicle and able to climb mountain roads with minimal difficulty. A much better car than the "white demon". From now on, it's larger size cars; size does matter.

And then there's the "Big I" (R). The place where I-25 & I-40 meet. The construction plan of the twenty-first century, started in the previous one. Currently it is on schedule to complete the "Big I" by December, 2001, and the entire project (including new N-S & E-W frontage roads) by July, 2002. By late Nov., the southbound ramps are opened.

11/08/01: gas is $1.04 at a station on Lomas near Wyoming.

12/07/01: $1.03 on Eubank near Indian School. 12/13/01: 99 cents in various locations of the city.

12/28/01: OPEC & non-OPEC countries will slash oil production. Immediately gas prices went up by at least 2 cents.

It is amazing that teenagers with multi-pierced ears and tattos from head to toe still remove their hats and bless themselves as they drive pass a Catholic Church.

11/16/01: Century Theaters 14 opened in downtown Albuquerque. On Saturday the seventeenth, a popcorn machine caught on fire. Everyone was evacuated, and no one was hurt. People could return at any time to see the movie they were watching when the incident took place. All that is needed is the ticket stub.

11/18/01: part of a Native American movie was filmed in Old Town. 11/20/01: the VLA will be 10 times more powerful after renovations are completed. 11/22/01: that night, rain & gusty winds, followed by snow on 11/23/01, seen at the corner of Central & Coors. US 285 from Tres Piedres to the Colorado border is closed due to blowing snow; the same is true for US 64 between Tres Piedres & Tierra Amerilla. 11/24/01: Mother Nature forced us to put on the heater. 11/30/01: ice & snow covered I-40 at the NM/AZ border and many roads in northwest NM.

11/30/01: discovered that there is a Collett Park in NE Albuquerque, and that New Mexico is the birthplace of Smokey the Bear. Also, was running up Eubank trying to find a bus stop. A teenager saw me trying to catch the bus, and told the driver, who stopped the bus between stops, let the boy off, of whom I said "Thank you", as well as to the bus driver. On the other hand, the driver for the Menaul bus waived his hand that he couldn't stop for me as I was running again. By luck, there was a red light, traffic & someone wanting to board the bus. This gave me enough time to reach it and hop on. However, due to the 'Big I' construction, some bus stops cannot be used. A guy stopped the bus at University where there was a red light with traffic and asked to board the bus. The driver said 'No', because the person was not at a bus stop, and drove away when the light changed.

12/01/01: changed AOL payment from credit to debit card.

12/05/01: Brad prepared a chess pie, cream of celery soup, and chicken livers wrapped in bacon (yum!).

12/08/01: Brad prepared a beef stew, using a Portuguese recipe. (double yum!) Subsequent dishes have included pot roast and beef stroganoff, plus meat loaf, duck and wonderful turkey, dressing & gravy (super yum!).

...Albuquerque has met EPA standards since 1998...ENRON stock, which had reached $86/share in 2000, is now worthless; employees are filing suit to recoup losses...it is $16.8 billion in debt, stocks rose to 93 cents a share...ENRON prevented its employees from cashing in their 401(K) accounts until the stock dropped in value, resulting in losses of up to 90% of the person's savings; so the employees are suing ENRON...also, ENRON sold its assets before filing bankruptcy...I'm always willing to learn, if you've got something to teach!...families of firefighters & police who died on September 11 will receive money from various funds created to raise money; these people could receive thousands of dollars (not that they don't deserve it)...but families of victims who perished in the World Trade Towers itself are unable to locate any organizations that will help them financially...Congress is proposing tax amnesty laws...a man set off the metal detector in an airport, a piece of surgical equipment was found in his stomach!...his doctor said that the apin the patient felt was typical after a surgery...so the man sued and received $90000 in compensation...Venice, Italy is sinking; so, Project Moses: an 8-year, $2.8 billion project to correct the problem...