…2/15-10: totally transparent

23º in ABQ; 78% humidity at 6A…GAQ; no more late-night weekend ‘parties’; Brad has a slight cold; Rail Runner rate hikes, plus cuts in weekend service, the first & last train; an increase in the state excise tax was not approved; Rio Rancho teens charged with shooting B-B guns at vehicles; guns may be allowed in some restaurants that serve beer & wine; final phase of Spaceport has begun; female Duke City teacher accused of raping a male student;

very cold AM R/R; Code Purple, or ‘Deep Purple’, as someone called it, by 9:30A; could not save document, system kept indicating my file was full; finally got system to work;

more snow for Boston, Albany, Pittsburgh, Louisville DC, INDY, KC, Cincinnati & Omaha; rain in Mobile, ATL, New Orleans & JAX; wet weather for Vancouver; bad driving along parts of I-10, I-70, I-71, I-75, I-81 & I-85; snow for the N Rockies, and from MI to GA; temps from 10s to 70s;

CA health INS CO will postpone rate hikes; the ‘dynamic trio’: Sarah, Rush & Dick; woman found rat in her bathroom, flushed it down the toilet; 911 operator helped save his son’s life; actor told he was too fat to fly; fatal NE pileup along I-80; shooting at San Fran church appeared to be gang related; yoga for children; the oldest US person on ‘Death Row’ dies in AZ jail; GA man stabbed his estranged wife to death at a Wal-Mart parking lot; in case people have forgotten, today is Presidents’ Day, but nobody has the day off!; people are buying fake job references; the DOW went down; snow is collapsing roofs; four dead in NJ plane crash; carbon monoxide leak evacuates a NH hotel; does ND town really want new residents?; movie tickets are still selling in today’s economy; ME man deliberately living without heat in his home; is Congress ‘broken’, ‘poisonous’, ‘dysfunctional’?: 71% of those polled say something is wrong on Capitol Hill; Oscar statues will have the winner’s name engraved;

two high speed trains collided in Brussels, one of them ran a red light, the impact threw cars in the air, and broke overhead power lines; warm weather also plagued Grenoble, France during its Winter Olympics; our US troops in AFG also have to battle sandstorms, bombs are embedded in walls; Canada won a gold medal on its home ground; is Iran heading towards a military dictatorship?; Haitian school has collapsed, killing three children; it is Carnival in Rio; correction: this may be the Chinese Year of the Tiger; oil is $74 per barrel; gold is $1,090.20 an ounce; underwater weddings held this past weekend off the coast of Thailand; has a UFO been sighted over the moon?;

…2/14-10: love, global style!

33º in ABQ; 66% humidity at 6A…Brad prepared Scalloped Tomatoes [that’s right!]; we enjoyed our Valentine’s Day cake; more daytime break-ins: people ring the doorbell…if no one answers, the thief tries to forces his/her way into the residence; Brad prepared Colorless Carrots; car wreck at Monte Vista & Richmond; about 1,300 people attended the Isotopes Job Fair yesterday; state legislature wants to put a yearly cap of 3% on property tax increases; is marijuana the ‘safe’ medicine; local merchants feel that Valentine’s Day is recession proof: you either buy them for the day, or as an apology for forgetting to do so; a domestic partnership law could help unify NM; it will be cold in E NM, and mild in the W part of the state; a $1 proposed tax increase on cigarettes?; $1.9 million from US DOT to widen I-10 from El Paso to the TX border; Brad also Baked Bread; NM GOV has secured a $13 million grant from the FED GOVT to provide electronic access to health info; Leo’s Nightclub at Twelfth & Candelaria has become a victim of its success: more DUI & gang activity in that neighborhood; the NM ‘Special Orchestra’ performed at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe yesterday; enjoyed the movie “An Ideal Husband”, by Oscar Wilde; man used a dead person’s SSN to get a loan, and got arrested; we enjoyed Tenderloin Wrapped in Bacon, and toasted with a glass of Champagne; I-25 will be widened from Bernalillo to Tramway; eat chocolate, reduce the chances of having a stroke; the AL UNIV murderer had previously killed her brother; a major fault line runs under the city of Seattle; OH man tattooed a one year old girl without her permission, or that of her parents; the Detective debut of Batman is now the world’s most expensive comic book, auctioned at close to $420K; NYC cop arrested for DUI after driving into Tiffany’s Jewelry Store; Conoco oil exec killed by an avalanche in AK; skating rink roof collapsed in Pittsburgh from all the snow that has fallen on the city; more snow for the eastern half of the US; four children died in MI APT fire, while seven people killed in Chicago APT fire; did the AL UNIV killer also send a pipe bomb to one of her teachers many years ago?; several pileups along parts of I-35 & I-70 near KC, all due to weather conditions; Trader Joe’s Granola Bars recalled for possible salmonella contamination; the battle of Biden vs. Cheney on how to handle terrorism;

the astronauts will spend an extra day at the INTL Space Stations, plus the problems they faced yesterday with the observation deck extension had been resolved; the Great Barrier Reef has the largest collection of carnivores; NATO forces accidentally killed twelve AFG civilians; so far, the US leads in Winter Olympic medals; Hillary Clinton is in Qatar & Iran; what’s next in the list of reason for Toyota to recall more vehicles?; Haitian airport ready for larger planes;

…2/13-10: news for the moment

33º in ABQ; 66% humidity at 6A…because of the recent snowstorms, the NM GOV has declared five N NM counties as disaster areas, that qualify for state, and possibly FED funding; Brad made Baked Beans; he also bought a Valentine’s Day cake, plus a box of chocolate truffles; safety procedures need to be improved: six accidents reported at LANL during the past six months; Mardi Gras parties at Angel Fire & Cloudcroft; more charges against the Duke City slumlord; former NM state worker guilty of fraud; was the homeowner who shot the intruder at any risk of ‘immediate danger’?; should there be a state tax or tortillas & bread, and other processed food?; CYFD feels it is doing a very good job; is there too much ‘harmless’ additives in the Bernalillo water system; there will be a $2 fee for ignition interlocks; an ABQ Isotopes job fair is being held today; American Airlines will resume flights from Santa Fe to Los Angeles; the woman on the PM R/R who was listening to her IPod, until she saw my Valentine’s Day gift, then told me how adorable it was; the mad dash I made yesterday between getting a gift for Brad, running across a busy intersection [twice] to buy my comic books, then racing to the bus stop [I am very thankful that the red light was in my favor]; Brad’s painting keeps progressing; one minute we were watching TV, and the next, we were talking about books we read when we were growing up…and we had similar interests; fallen NM military soldier was honored in his home state;

a Valentine’s Day heart made of manure…is that a token of love?; a man has been arrested after shooting three people in FL; some arthritis patients will qualify for medical marijuana; weird: a man killed a four month old baby boy, and attacked several other adults before being tasered by Las Vegas police; media is capturing in photos the unhappy side of Obama; disabled PA woman killed by her new ‘friends’; Obama wants money allocated to build a nuclear reactor; who is the ‘Superman’ of basketball?; Palin is barring the media from her FL speeches; a ‘Laverne & Shirley’ movie?; a $380 per month APT on Park Ave; the Harry Potter castle should open this spring at Universal Studios in Orlando; who will win on the big screen: vampires or a Wolfman?; get ready for the ‘rocket car’; while the ‘super Bowl of Surfing’ was taking place, an increasing number of ‘rogue waves’ were appearing along the CA coast; another 4.9 million pounds of beef have been recalled;this week is Chinese New Year 4708, celebrating the Year of the Dragon; a problem has risen in attaching the observation area to the INTL Space Station; cyclone strikes American Samoa; luger death at the Winter Games was not caused by the track itself, but changes are being made to the course, and speeds will not exceed 90 mph…but should the barriers have been built higher?; another US military in AFG, assault against the Taliban; a second spacewalk took place; hard times fall upon the “world’s best restaurant” in Spain, forcing it to close;

…2/12-10: refine your profile

31º in ABQ; 72% humidity at 6A…GAQ; man drove a stolen car for two days before being caught; double shooting in NE ABQ; NM SEN approved renewing driver’s licenses online; lots of snow on the ski slopes, but NM could use a little bit more moisture; LANL is doubling its radioactive shipments to WIPP; water pipeline needed for E MTN homes; suspicious package & a bomb scare at the FED Courthouse in Santa Fe; somebody smashed a street light at WY & Menaul; in the spirit of the day, I was able to buy Brad a present, true to his namesake; is it the economic times, because everyone is treating Valentine’s Day as if it were the holiday season; a naked bicyclist event will be held in Santa Fe, after ABQ turned it down; homeowner shot a burglar in NW ABQ, but was the thief on her property?; the Porn Film Festival can no longer take place on Nob Hill;

for a while yesterday, no one could not locate the bright yellow billing sheets I had brought to the Newborn Nursery; comic quest; no CTI Admits; Valentine’s Day candy from my MGR; sent her a B’day card; I was ‘simply red’ today, in spite of my darker tendencies; everywhere there were crowded buses, and I arrived home after 5P; and I ignored the nightly news, instead we sat down to enjoy NCIS; I was able to buy a Valentine’s Day present for him; we remain in Code Purple;

the ‘ten state snowstorm; snow in Dallas, Mobile, Jackson, Montgomery, ATL & Charlotte; flurries cross parts of AR, MS, AL & Louisiana; rain in Tallahassee, New Orleans, JAX, SLC & Seattle; icy roads across TX; winter weather from TX to the Carolinas & N FL; ABQ temp mentioned on ABC AM News; risky driving along parts of I-10 & I-20; temps from the 10s to the 70s;

Bill Clinton was released today after having heart surgery, and could be back to his work by next week…he is in better shape now, than when he was PRES and had ‘domestic affairs’ to handle; Patrick Kennedy will be quitting Congress; SE US airports are canceling flights & shutting down; of those people polled, 75% support gays in the military, 66% support civil unions for gays & lesbians, and 47% approve of gays marrying; chocolate is good for your heart?; as if all the snow wasn’t bad enough: a DC METRO Red Line train derailed near the Farragut North stop at Connecticut & K streets, NW DC, which resulted in a two hour delay for subway commuters; only minor injuries were reported; Congress is still working on a jobs bill; Mobile also holds a Mardi Gras parade; there is snow on the ground in every state except one; Marvel Comics apologizes for offending the NATL Tea Party; W Hollywood may also ban the sales of cats & dogs; the DOW ended down; fake band asked to perform at a real concert; stalker kills woman at her FL worksite; woman killed three people, and injured three others during a biology faculty meeting at a U of AL campus; rates will rise in individual health INS plans; gift cards as the latest stimulus idea?; ‘The Wolfman’ remake makes its big screen debut this weekend;let the 2010 Winter Games begin; Nelson Mandela honored; observation deck has been added to the INTL Space Station; oil is $73.58 per barrel; now, Toyota recalls 8K more vehicles; N Korea does not want to resume talks; gold is $1,090.10 an ounce; Georgian luger is killed during a training practice, just prior to the actual events;

The World of Azzarb & the Elusive Mr. b: …1/31-10: global resources#comments

The World of Azzarb & the Elusive Mr. b: …1/31-10: global resources#comments: "marion said...
I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
Marian"

Thank you very much, Marion!
It would be nice to see DC in the winter. I lived through many snowstorms in my twenty years living in Alexandria, VA.
Mike W.

…2/11-10: protect the tech

30º in ABQ; 80% humidity at 6A…GAQ; – 4º in Angel Fire this AM; Santa Fe parents have been arrested, charged with child abuse; Socorro mayoral candidate accused of robbing from a convenience store; to Milton Baca, the woman who hit him with her car is getting only a ‘slap on the wrist’ sentence; people across NM are questioning CYFD activities, especially after a year of reported abuse, neglect & deaths of children under their care; Brad’s 2000 hernia surgery is becoming ‘unstitched’; explosive device found in T or C; burnt body found near a Silver City campground; actor Christian Bale once stayed at the current ‘ABQ murder house’; truck collided with the Rail Runner; NM dog has the plague;

delivering a batch of billing sheets to Newborn Nursery; putting Group 4 entries on hold; Career EXPO at UNM; no CTI Admits; Channel 13 on UNM campus; Code Purple continues;

the ‘February fury’ heading out to sea; snow covers an area from VA to NY…and more for Erie, Buffalo, Albany, Yellowstone, Dallas & ATL; winter weather from TX & OK, to AL, GA & FL; rain for San Antonio, Houston, New Orleans & Orlando; Roswell forecast mentioned on the Weather Channel; bad weather along parts of I-10, I-20, I-35 & I-90; five foot high snow drifts; no high & low temps to report;

2/11/63: Julia Child’s culinary program “The French Chef” premiered; five INS companies report record profits in 2009; snowfall records have been broken along the E Coast; a major pileup along I-80 in PA; the FED GOVT remains closed, and major airports in the area are ‘open’; DC may declare a FED emergency; NYC reopens for business; many of those poled do not support Palin for PRES, nor do the understand what the Tea Party represents; the ‘pink only’ Hoodie Snuggie; are more foreclosures over the horizon?; Bill Clinton checked into a NYC HOSP; complaining of chest pains; will blizzards cause an increase of jobless claims?; GA man smashed 29 flat screen TV sets; the DOW ended up; many people watch ‘disaster’ movies for the special effects, not the plot; home prices fell 12% during 2009; beware of the “I-25 Bandit”; security does not equal ‘serve & protect’; Clinton had heart surgery, was talking on the phone just prior to the operation, the former PRES had been battling a cold; IA mother was the pimp for her daughter; more mumps outbreaks in NJ & NY; ‘KY Proud’ label on MN beef;Iran has produced enriched uranium, making it a ‘nuclear nation’?; oil is $74.35 per barrel; gold is $1,090.20 an ounce; 40 year old male fashion designer has died, was it suicide?; rain for Vancouver, the first time the opening events will be held inside; the first spacewalk will take place, adding another room to the INTL Space Station, and also checking for ‘debris damage’ on the Endeavour; England shut down its H1N1 ‘hot line’; Iran ties to block ‘YouTube’; is there a broken link in the secure INTEL chain between the US & the UK?; the rainy season is starting in Haiti;

…2/10-10: people you know are saving money

31º in ABQ; 89% humidity at 6A…Brad’s Chiro visit; GAQ; when ‘fun’ becomes ‘furious’; Marvel studios will film the movie ‘Thor’ near Santa Fe; anyone arrested on DUI charges may have to spend time in jail; Rio Rancho may ban the sales of cats & dogs; two year old Santa Fe boy may have his legs amputated, a victim of child abuse; more street lights needed in Bernalillo CNTY; the NM House passed a cell phone ban; I actually cried this early AM; Brad prepared a French Cabbage Soup; children cannot return to their classes in ABQ schools if they miss ten days in a row; doctor’s visit now rescheduled for 2/23/10 at 11:30A; how did a dead body appear on a Duke City driveway; NM restaurant will appear on the History Channel; KAFB does not know how to handle nuclear material, or weapons?;

hope for better office air today; arson the suspected cause of bulletin board fire in UNMH dorm; KOAT on UNM hill; one patient has been admitted three times within seven days; coworkers asked if I would like to be in DC: my answer was ‘yes’; why were charges submitted to an INS company, only to be told they were past the filing limit?; we are in Code Purple; the HOSP needs more specialists; why is someone no longer taking the bus?;

about 100 million people affected by this latest snowstorm, houses are starting to collapse under the weight of the snow; more W Coast mudslides expected; more winter weather for NYC, Buffalo, DC, Baltimore & Philly; record amounts recorded, whiteout conditions; snow for Detroit, Chicago & Boston, with flights being cancelled; blizzard conditions from NY to WV; bad driving along parts of the MA & PA Turnpikes, and sections of I-70, I-76, I-80, I-95; salt & sand supplies are running out in the mid-Atlantic region; no temps to report;

3.4 quake shook N IL, felt in parts of IA & IN; no injuries or damages reported; the Ritz-Carlton in ‘the’ Las Vegas forced to close because of the poor economy; is [R] becoming the more popular party?; the US GOVT may be closed for business all week, so are schools from MD to MA; the blizzard of 2010 has many names; the ‘provocative profile’ of the NY GOV; the number of illegal immigrants has dropped by 7%; 25% of snow plows are out of commission; one man has developed the ‘snow scoop’, to create snowballs; price gouging: people are charging up to $700 to shovel snow: this tactic dates back to the 19th century; fifty vehicle pileup on I-64 near Williamsburg, VA; only major procedures being scheduled at DC hospitals; Dulles & NATL Airports are closed; across a large part of the US, 400K passengers are waiting to fly, after the snow, comes the strong winds; twelve year old PA boy has been found guilty of murdering his stepmother, and may face life in prison; three year old NH boy saved his family after their house caught on fire; TN teacher shot both the principal & the ASST principal; will E Coast skiers reach the W Coast Olympics?; the DOW went down; Americans want jobs; NM has withdrawn $5 billion from ‘big banks’, and transferred the money to local ones; in Houston, a bus ran red light, slammed into light rail train; NY student stabbed another classmate several times with a pencil; because of heavy rains, CA road buckled & collapsed; a $1 cigarette tax?; WA security guards do nothing as a girl is beaten in a bus tunnel; children sold on the OH ‘sex market’; people charging $100 for taxi rides; the new bonus system, courtesy of AIG;

elevator problems plague to Dubai tower; Honda expanding recall for faulty airbags, adding 378K vehicles to the list, bringing the total to one million vehicles; Endeavour has docked with the INTL Space Station; was Toyota ‘asleep at the wheel’?; gold $1,075.90 an ounce; US missionaries may be released from Haiti; oil is $74.25 per barrel; people are dying from Brazilian heat wave;