Weather...or not!

...during the third weekend in May there were 13 fires, 6 in the Gila Natl. Forest... each was less than 2 acres in size...by Sunday evening all blazes were under control ...the East Coast chilled with temps 15-20 degrees below normal...by the end of May, summer conditions return to most of the country...

...Vitamin E is 80 years old; Mann's Theatre in LA, 75...the Weather Channel, 20...the Oreo cookie, 90...

...more culinary creations by Brad...B-B-Q country spare ribs & beef...noodle casserole with sour cream & cottage cheese...hot & sour soup with shrimp...strawberry rhubarb pie...beef satay & peanut sauce, which can also be used as a tasty topping to cabbage...baked beans...beef stroganoff...cold avocado soup...pork, cabbage & onions in a garlic black bean oyster sauce...

...5/15/02: by a cruel twist of fate, a plane crashed north of Alamogordo, causing another fire..1 pilot died, the other ejected to safety...the blaze was so intense that the fire fighters could not get near it...at least 20 acres of the Apache Mescalero Reservation had burned, about 20 miles north of Holliman AFB...man falls to his death while climbing into a volcanic caldera (blow hole) near Santa Fe...the dry weather has caused my eyes to burn when I wake up...ABQ had a small amount of rain during the third weekend in May...neither of us can fall asleep easily on Sunday evenings...southern NM reaches 100 degrees on a daily basis...

...5/20/02: East Timor acheives its freedom from Indonesia...it was originally a Portuguese colony...

...someone named their baby Genocide...

All we are is dust in the wind...!

...5/21/02: and dust it was as the sky turned brown, the mountains disappeared and the wind gusts exceeded 50+ mph...it's another Red Fire Danger Day...5/22/02: the morning sky is clear, the winds are calm and there is a slight chill in the air...5/27/02: the air quality in Palm Springs is worse than Los Angeles...it has reached the unhealthy level...

...outside NM, a severe fire burned near Prescott, AZ...it was contained, but destroyed 1300 acres, 5 homes & 2 other structures...the dry weather has seen the increase of allergies, asthma, cellulitis & eczema...5/18/02: fire in the Gila Natl. Forest, near Quamado, contained that same day...dust storm in ABQ with winds reaching 45-50 mph...rain was predicted for Sunday & Monday evenings, but there was none...brush fire nears Ft. Pierce, FL...

...5/22/02: the body of Chandra Levy is found at Rock Creek Park in DC...a year after she vanishes and a person stumbles onto her skull while walking his dog...a 14-year old girl was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City...it was night and her parents were sleeping...the culprit threatened the life of the victim's sister...her parents were both hospitalized for exhaustion; no solid leads at first...now a family member may be a suspect...Rosie O'Donnell says good-bye after 6 years in the talk show circuit...there's up to a foot of snow in the mountains of Montana, including Yellowstone Natl Park...30% of today's salary is used to pay the mortgage; 40%, for rent...this is an increase over previous years...Proxy Blue...gas increases by 2 cents in some stations after the Memorial Day weekend, but goes down by 2 cents at others...6/8/02: gas prices go down by 1-3 cents around ABQ...6/11/02: Paul McCartney weds...

...zeroscaping???...Tough Shed storage...Quality Erection Specialist Construction CO...

...a lime green VW has a license plate APHID...6/18/02: Paul McCartney turns 60!...

...5/26/02: a mother gave birth to a 15 pound baby!...5/28/02: Bob Hope turns 99!...

...Captain does not like Starkist tuna...

...5/22/02: a fire burns near the Four Corners area, it is almost under complete control...there is another blaze in the Pecos National Forest...a third wildfire is east of Chimayo & northeast of the tiny community of Cundiyo...the Borrego Mesa fire in the Santa Fe National Forest has grown to 150 acres...by the end of the week it had burnt 4,300 acres...the town of Truchas was evacuated; Cordova & Chimayo were put on alert...SR 76 & CR 80 were closed as well as SR 503 & 306 plus FR 440...it is a low level fire, whose smell could be detected in Santa Fe...so far no injuries, no property damage...by the weekend 10,000 acres had burned, and only 15% contained...there is the problem with windy conditions & very dense forests in that area...fire lines are being built and 10 air tankers are soaking it with fire retardent chemicals...ash is settling on cities in Mora County...the fire can be seen from space...over 600 firefighters are battling the blaze, some from CA & OR...it is nearing the Carson Natl. Forest...fire grew to 11,000 acres, only 15% contained, could take weeks to be fully under control...5/28/02: 35% contained, helped by higher humidity...12,000 acres burned, the fire is located ESE of Truchas...5/29/02: 65% contained...5/30/02: 70% contained, with 100% expected by 6/2/02...only 90% under control by early June, and 13,000 acres burnt...the smoke & ash will linger for several months...humidity drops to a low of 9%...

...the Round House is where Congress meets in Santa Fe...but the governor was in the Memorial Day marathon at KAFB...other religious services were held in Angel Fire...

...in the 1980s' we had Dallas, Falcon Crest, Knotts Landing, Dynasty & the Colbys...in 2002 we see how the rich really live in the Hamptons, which uses actual people telling their personal stories & desires...

...5/25/02: the BIG I opens up...the ribbon was cut at 10AM...it was finished under budget and a month ahead of schedule...it took 2 years to complete, adding 111 miles of roadway, cost $291 million and will last until 2020...now, the bridges on S Bernalillo exits on I-25 will be under repair for the next 5 months...

...the price of an average home is up 1% to $226,000...more people have to live farther from their jobs in order to afford a place to live...the farther from work, the more time it takes to get to work...which means less sleep, more gas used, more pollution & more frustration while waiting in traffic...

...remember Tears for Fears, Midnight Oil, Nine Inch Nails, INXS, Expose, Johnny Hates Jazz,
WHAM!, Crowded House & Roxette (The Look)...

...Max Headroom & Architectural Digest...PEZ candy dispenser, made famous on the Pretender, is 50 years old!...

...a truck carrying cyanide was highjacked in Mexico...the truck was found but not the contents...5/30/02: cyanide located near Mexico City...

...a Taos native & restaurant owner in Arroyo Seco appears in Enough, a movie starring Jennifer Lopez...6/14/02: Windtalker, a movie about the code used during World War 2, which was based on the language of Native Americans...5/30/02: KOAT-TV had a story which visited room 392 in the UNM GPU area...there are twins who have an immune deficiency which occurs more often in Navajo children...Dr. Susan Mathew was interviewed...the only way to treat the condition is a bone marrow transplant...

...if a person turns around 3 times and looks at you...one year later, the people of ABQ, both young & old, are basically friendly and enjoy talking with anyone...but sometimes it is so frustrating when people say you haven't done something correctly, and in the end they have made the goofs...or promising one thing, saying that everything has been taken care of, then going against everything they previously said...then saying that you have to start the paperwork over again...big or small all towns have too many rules, loopholes & exceptions for everything they do and who you are...at work, the nurse's stations in GPU & PSAC are being renovated, complete with a new purple tiled floor...Mike needed an ice pack to relieve the pressure on his neck...he has had too many dizzy spells, headaches & sore neck muscles ...

...if there is a saint, it's Phyllis, who was unemployed as of 6/3/02; her husband, Isaac, was given the letter & became the messenger of something that was destined to happen...again, the reason was not enough money in the budget...Issac's has been told that his last day is 6/28/02...so has Liz, from the Mail area...they may be contracting enrollment transactions, with Adoline as the contact...amazing how there was & was not money in the budget, depending on the reason or necessity...Mr. Ernst no longer wants to provide coverage for ISS dependents...but he wants to have a contest in which one Member Services employee will win a trip to the League National Convention in Norfolk, VA during the hottest, most humid part of the summer!...wow!...

...Memorial Day weekend, and our bird family; mother, father & the 3 babies, left for other lodgings...their nest was removed & the entrance was cleaned...it was also painted as part of the renovations to the complex...6/3/02: all penthouses complained about the lack of freon in the A/C; the situation was corrected by the day after their request...

...during Memorial Day weekend, snow fell on the mountain tops near Santa Fe...5/29/02: first morning without a jacket as temps climb closer to 90 degrees...5/30/02: 70 degrees at 4:30 AM...ABQ on Water Alert...5/31/02: record high of 97 degrees in ABQ...111 degrees in Phoenix; 102, in Lordsburg...July temps at the start of June, which also begins hurricane season...6/3/02: snow near Angel Fire, large hail & heavy rains in parts of the state, which did help cool down the fires...the state rainfall is 2 inches below normal...

...possible terrorist attacks may take place during the Fourth of July holiday...the targets now include nuclear power plants from DC to Boston...there have been a number of flag burnings in ABQ again...VP Cheney stated that the threat is imminent & inevitable...suicide bombings could happen in this country, as well as Russia & Great Britain...England claims to have a video of Osama bin Laden, looking quite weary...as the week progressed, the focus was on landmarks in New York, including The Brooklyn Bridge...the rail & transit systems were also advised as targets for probable attack on Memorial Day weekend, as well as the continued danger for public places, such as shopping centers & libraries...scuba divers may attach explosions to boats, and small planes may be used in suicide missions, similar to the Kamakazi attacks in WWII...in the end, nothing happened...

...during the 4-day festivities celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 50 years as monarch, a fire breaks out in Buckingham Palace, this is the first time since WWII...no one was injured, and Her Majesty remained in Windsor Castle...a million people crowd the London streets to catch a glimpse of royalty...Mick Jagger is the next rock star to be knighted by QE2...

...four women from NM were included in the Cowgirl Hall of Fame Museum in Ft. Worth, TX...6/8/02: the Tyson fight was held at the Pyramid in Memphis, TN...a new stamp will display the underground beauty of Carlsbad Caverns!...and Roswell is one of 10 selected as an All American City...