"Let's turn it up another notch!"

...4/17/03: Captain sick, heaved once...back to furball food, now feeling better...he has been shedding...the proof is on the carpet...4/19/03: Captain + catnip = purrfection followed by a long rest...weather: windy & warm...

"Go for it!"

...Stations of the Cross signs were placed along the path to Chimayo...

...4/19/03: the APS(chool) may be facing a lawsuit for suspending teachers due to their displays of anti- & pro-war posters...4/19/03: this is the 8th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombings...4/19/03 is also the 10th anniversary of the Branch Davidian fire @Waco, TX...

...pilots will now be able to carry .42 caliber hand guns into the cockpit...4/19/03: went to Casa Grande...Brad ordered Menudo...once was truly enough...made with hominy & pork bones...the smells & flavors not to our liking...later saw a green Rolls Royce Silver Shadow parked in front of that restaurant...saw a wedding parade consisting of late 50s' & early 60s' Chevys...shades of the past: Amy Joy doughnuts...forget my old bottle of Viread at the pharmacy...4/20/03: the Easter Bunny can be seen at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center...

...4/19/03: Brad made another wonderful strawberry rhubarb pie!...at the same time, snow closed the Raton Pass on I-25 at the NM/CO border...the Blessing of the Animals took place in downtown LA, a ceremony which is over 70 years old...4/20/03: vacuum fan broke (with a bang!) & repaired...

...SARS victims may have flu-like symptoms...they can recover through hospital care...4/20/03: China is asking people not to travel & cancel events celebrating the workers' holiday of May 1...the number of infected people in Beijing have risen from 37 to 346!...the number of deaths: 12...my fingers are peeling from the burn!...

"It was 20 years ago today (more or less)...!"

"Gag me with a spoon!"

"Totally awesome, fer sher!"

"Like...I don't know!"

...4/20/03: Brad made rhubarb & raisins preserve w/lemon & orange rind & juice...no we have over 20 jars of various fruits...then he created a magnificent Easter meal, consisting of mango avacado salad topped with a dressing combining extra virgin olive oil & lemon juice plus salt & pepper, asparagus w/Hollandaise sauce & loin chops of lamb w/Mediterranean garlic paste...

...4/21/03: back to the War with Iraq theme music for KOAT-TV...50 degrees @5AM...a 14th person has died from SARS in Toronto...the mayor & health minister of Beijing have been stripped of their duties...now China fears the disease will spread through the rural areas due to the lack of access to medical facilities...6 more people die in Hong Kong from the disease...an FBI sex scandal in which people trained to spy on China were, in reality, obtaining info for Beijing on Los Alamos activity & projects, nuclear weapons sites & blueprints for the neutron bomb!...

...4/22/03: 56 degrees @4 AM...wind during the day...a thunderstorm caused a power outage in Santa Fe County yesterday evening...the first American to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon was from ABQ!...Toronto, CN is on the list of cities not to visit due to the SARS crisis...per an E-mail received today, Sixth ST should be open for 2-way traffic on 4/26/03...

...4/23/03: the end of Bethlehem Steel...very windy AM...this was a cold, raw, rainy, windy day!...there is a snow advisory for places over 8,000 feet, such as Taos, Angel Fire, Red River, NM & Flagstaff, AZ...severe AM T-storms w/hail from Tucumcari to Clayton...there is a big low pressure working through the state...winds in this area gust up to 35, and could reach 50 mph!...this is the only area in the country today that has severe weather...the snow will also help keep the fire danger low!...

...4/23/03: the second reign of the Ford T-birds ends in 2006!...very poor sales...people are warned not to travel to Beijing & Toronto, due to the SARS virus...people better be aware of the symptoms...even Canadian geese have to be careful who joins their group...they may reroute their Toronto brethren to Iceland for the summer...

...4/23/03: ten years ago, Cesar Chavez died...he is being honored for his courage with a stamp in his image...you know, Brad has no boss to whom he has to substantiate his actions or decisions...

...4/23/03: there is a telethon in the 3rd floor lobby at work...and there was a 7 foot Big Bird with a baseball uniform roaming the hallways of PSAC...on that day I learned to code Urgent Care E/R services...I ripped my black pants...but, I do have spares...Brad baked delicious scones made w/lemon zest & slivered almonds, topped with his homemade orange marmalade...wonderful!...4/24/03: Brad made pasta a la carbonnara...

...4/24/03: Brad & Mike went nuclear as a jar of Chinese tea fell and spread its contents across the kitchen floor...Mike was angry because every suggestion he makes, Brad has a counter proposal...that, and the events of the day (see here), and Mike exploded...possibly, too fast, but these are trying times!...something small became something big very quickly...then silence draped the apartment...and Mike had no supper (serves him right!)...American Airlines lost $1 billion during the 1st quarter of 2003...

...4/24-26/03: the Gathering of Nations weekend begins...500+ tribes are represented in its 20th year...many people attend the events, which translates into dancing, eating, shopping & spending money...there is also a feeling of family & culture...the Pow Wow event & the crowning of Miss Indian World are events in this Mecca of Native American Culture...there was a moment of silence for PFC Lori Piestewa, the first Native American [woman] to die in battle [during the War with Iraq]...

...4/24/03: I had an early morning panic attack, which faded...GPU & PSAC are full, more people arriving than leaving...for day 1, Dr. Cordova did OK...this was "Bring your child to work" day...

...4/25/03: I hate everything! I don't care much about anything!...a proposal from Donald Rumsfeld: he wants illegal immigrants to be detained indefinitely during a time of heightened NATL security...this will be an 80s' weekend, weather-wise; 90s' in places like Carlsbad...the reason is a dry, warm zonal flow!...the war is nearing its end, but shootings still occur in schools across the country...I have switched from ALTACE to ZESTRIL...a down power line near 5th & Gold; the LOMAS bus drove on Gold to 2nd to Copper and back to 5th...I arrived 1 minute later than normal...left @noon & enjoyed onion rings @the Owl Cafe...gas is now down to $1.47/gal...

...4/26/03: the NM State Fairgrounds will be renamed Expo: New Mexico...the Home & Garden Show took place there...baseball size hail fell in Atlanta, heavy rains closed part of I-75...otherwise, it is dry across the nation...ABQ is 297 years old; the Fiestas de Albuquerque was held this weekend...SAT night was the Spring Crawl in downtown ABQ...Central will be closed between 3rd & 6th tonight...and there is also Freedom Fest @Tingley Collesium...the west side of ABQ will be the site for new growth & development...20 year old twins from ABQ went topless in the new movie Cancun, which opened nationwide 4/25/03...
...4/26/03 marks the 17th anniversary of the explosion in the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor...
...4/25-26/03: I went to bed @1 AM!...Brad & Captain sleep in the same anatomical position when in bed...

...4/26/03: feast your eyes & palate on this heavenly meal!...the beginning consisted of cream of mushroom soup...this was accompanied by tagliatelli w/chicken, tossed in pine nuts, golden raisins, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper & parsley...dessert was strawberry tart with sugar, corn starch, lemon & orange juice plus salt...yum!...4/27/03: we started with a salad with fresh greens; Brad made extra large croutons...

...4/27/03: Brad's stairway garden has produced its first baby tomato & strawberry!...I knicked my penis!...Johnny Tapia, the fighter who was in a coma for 2 days in Jan., 2003, may open a restaurant in Corrales...police in IL had a donut eating contest (stereotyped?) to raise money for charity...in 2002, there were 1515 fires, burning 119,000 acres; in 2003, there have been 90 fires so far...Cassandra's final exam @TVI takes place on 4/28/03...

...a UNM professor has just returned from Beijing...Dr. Richard Schaefer placed himself under quarantine for 10 days...China did not have the full story about the disease when it first struck that country...he learned the facts via the Internet...yet American tourists take no precautions when traveling in that city...they appear unaware of the deadly disease, or the fact that museums and places of entertainment are virtually empty...nobody wants to go to a Beijing (or Tornoto) hospital, for fear they will become infected...and, no security measures were taken at either Chinese or US airports...an infrared ear thermometer are used in many buildings...if a person has a fever 100 degrees, they are considered a potential carrier...Hong Kong has had the most citizens infected, in proportion to its population...

...4/27/03: walked through Old Town...it was Founder's Day...the meals are twice as expensive as Lam's, and higher than Casa Grande...the High Noon restaurant did not display either its lunch or dinner prices...a suitcase was left on Montgomery @Louisiana...it was detonated; unsure what was inside...

...4/28/03: SARS has peaked in Vietnam (where the have contained the illness), Canada & Hong Kong, but not in mainland Chine...Taiwan has reported its first death from the virus...the CDC says SARS will not be easily eliminated...in Toronto, they were selling $1 tickets to increase attendance at their baseball games...I really did not want to go to, or be at work!...the buses did go up 6th ST!...and I saw Stan!...

...4/28/03: Soyuz docked with the space station; a former LANL employee remains in space...NM was on the direct flight path of the Columbia...a large area of the Sandias will be investigated again to locate debris...there has been no substantial rain for 6 weeks...the fire danger is high...the humidity will remain low through mid-week...winds will also increase in speed...and the temps almost reach the 80s' in ABQ...

...this week, a book by Hillary Clinton hits the stands...she has already received $8 million in advance royalties...NM GOV Richards, a possible VP candiddate in 2004?...

"Shields Up!"

...4/28/03: Cassandra locked her report in a desk drawer at home, couldn't open it, and had to rewrite the entire paper again...that took until midnight...meanwhile, her son & husband are sick, so she got 3 hours of sleep before the day of a final exam...a busy day in GPU & PSAC...and the DOW is up 165 points...

"Wired, not tired!"

...4/29/03: shakes, rattles & rolls...at Raton, there was a 3.7 quake...but near the AL/GA border, the tremor reached 4.9 on the Richter scale...it affected 7 states, but only minor damage...75 foot tall flames accompanied a black inky smoke cloud at a marsh blaze near Cleveland...no property was damaged, but mud prevented easy access for the firemen...there was also a massive oil spill near Cape Cod...