Albuquerque, New Mexico

I want to apologize in advance for the program glitches that make me look as if I am cursing. Those are supposed to be apostrophes. Hey, this website is almost twenty years old!

Yesterday there was a police presence for hours in the northeast neighborhood where my daughter lives. Although mildly curious, we did not go out to inquire about what was going on. Hours later, talking with some neighbors who were walking by, we learned that someone had broken windows at a messianic synagogue close by. 

The conversation turned onto the subject of Albuquerque and its  reputation for violence. This is nothing new, really, but Silver City has a similar reputation. Hmmm. Let me compare the two -or maybe it will turn out to be a contrast!

Wow.  Violent as Silver City seems to be, Albuquerque has it beat. It has over ten times the violent crime per 1000 capita than Silver City.

Albuquerque probably also has over ten times the yummy restaurants as Silver City. Silver City has not one Indian restaurant I can frequent for my favorite cuisine. There are good restaurants in Silver City, though.Jason Pierre has a great restaurant -La Vie c’est une Bistro - right downtown on the corner of Yankie and Texas. The Corner Kitchen is exceptional. Jalisco’s is hot in more ways than one. There is a new place in my neighborhood near the University called the Duck Stop which is supposed to be wonderful, too. I will definitely check that out - maybe on the way home from a workout.

Here in Albuquerque during my stay I and mine have eaten at several great restaurants. One (I think Las Palomas) has exceptionally wonderful blue corn pancakes on their brunch menu. The grounds are beautiful also, and I am not talking about coffee!  Although I did have a good latte with a lovely frothy frond design on its surface. Limonada is always a favorite. Yesterday I got there the crepes that some restaurants seem to be better at offering than actually providing. They must have had close to twenty varieties offered - some sweet, some savory. We ate at the Taj Mahal the other day, but it is not the only great Indian restaurant in Albuquerque. There are others. 

The Artisan shop supplied the needs of the artists in the family, but other than that we have not yet indulged in much shopping.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Yesterday we went to an escape room simulating a subway stranded at the bottom of the ocean. What a challenge! If I had been there by myself I would have assuredly been lost. My son, daughter-in-law, and grandson took charge. Two of them had been there last year, so they at least had familiarity with the scenario. I was clueless.

What amazed me was the combination of independent exploration and teamwork the family displayed. There was no commander. All was chaos. The kid, though, was the one who successfully “drove” the submarine out of the cave it had to enter in order to get supplies for the operation. This he was able to do because of his experience playing - guess what - video games. This year we (they) won! Yay!

I sure hope I get to participate in another one - maybe next year.

August 8 & 9, 2024

Albuquerque, New Mexico

This old Scrabble fan was introduced to a new-to-me (but older than Scrabble) game called Anagrams. I was always bad at the anagram puzzles in the newspapers, but I am beginning to enjoy scrambling words in Anagrams. It is a similar game to Scrabble in certain ways, but no board, no points, no such scoring. Whoever has the most words at the end of the game wins.

I have been on the lookout for old Scrabble games to increase my tile supply. The other day I walked over to a Saint Johns thrift shop in the neighborhood looking for Scrabble tiles. No luck (although it is a very nice shop!) My son got online, saw a game called bananagrams and presented it to me as a surprise! The tiles are Las tic, but they feel great. Not at all like the slick nasty hard-edged plastic tiles of old! They might even feel better than the wooden tiles. In fact, they do. 

Albuquerque, New Mexico 

Just arrived in Albuquerque yesterday afternoon on Advanced Airlines, the way to fly from the Grant County Airport to the Sunport in Albuquerque. The weather was only partly cloudy, so there was plenty of time to see the terrain below. For the first time I was able to see a huge mine, multicolored and multi-terraced. I am not sure it was the Chino mine, partly because it appeared to have two lagoons at the bottom - a feature I do not recall from the overlook that has the big nine-foot tire (which I am told is smaller than the tires currently in use.)

Interesting little factoid I learned from a visitor at the museum: if you have an ambition to drive a big truck in a big mine, you better not be prone to seasickness; those trucks sway and weave like crazy. Wild, huh?

I also got to see the Very Great Array of radio telescopes for the second time from above. My son tells me you can drive by. He went with his Dad once on the way to an engineering job. Alas, sounds as if it is quite out of the way as a possible detour between Albuquerque and Silver City. It is a two-hour drive from Albuquerque.

Silver City, New Mexico 

Museum shift dead so far. I wonder why? Was it this slow this time last year? I guess the pattern is there is no pattern.

I cannot help but wonder if the tragic Ruidoso fire has affected travel to the whole state. I wonder how Hawaii is doing tourist-wise.

One way the internet is inhibiting is in the indulgence of idle wondering. Now even more than ever, the activity deserves the response Look it up!

That activity used to require a trip to the library - discouraging to many. Now it requires a dunk in the Internet. Easy? No!

The Internet does not have the objectivity of the card catalog. Or was that so objective? Maybe the biases in operation were just more hidden.

I have known libraries that had new nonfiction shelves I could find treasures in every week. A change of library directors, and the nonfiction section might become unappealing if not downright unappetizing. After all, some of us are turned off by cookbooks.

Trying to find the truth on the Internet is equivalently unappetizing to me. Is it true that the first items on the response list are usually advertisements, or at least money-motivated? How far down must I scroll to get real information before the list becomes about something else I did not ask for?

At least the old card catalog did not offer books about zebras when I was researching anteaters!

Of course, I have no right to complain. For almost twenty years now I have used the domain called corvalliswalkingtours.com when it has been much closer to, successively, Valparaisowalkingtours, Madisonwalkingtours, and now, SilverCitywalkingtours than anything close to Corvallis.

Oh well, just goes to show you the power of inertia. Searcher, beware!

Silver City, New Mexico 

Well, for once I have time to write during my museum shift. Silver City finally got rain a couple of weeks ago after two months without significant rain. What a relief! Wildfires basically destroyed Ruidoso a month or so ago, and although we do not have many big trees around here it is scary not to have rain for so long.

It rained so little that a mama bear and her cubs were spotted on Boston Hill open (where I and others hike alone!). I guess they were desperate for food and water, but they were tranquillized and taken out into the wilderness.

Life in the no-longer Wild West still has its moments!

It appears I am celebrating the almost-twenty-year equivalent of a sabbatical!

I am just as opinionated as ever - I had some really important (heh) insights this morning. 

Unfortunately they are evidently not important enough to write down, or I forget to do so, or....

What was I on about??