Author: NewMexiKen

Santa Fe Silliness

At ‘Burque Babble NewMexiKen learned there’s going to be a $50 (under $30,000) or $25 (under $70,000) rebate from the legislature because gasoline is so expensive. I agree with ‘Burque Babble’s reaction including:

• I wonder if we’ll get the same series of five separate mailers telling us: 1. Announcement: A rebate is coming; 2. Announcement: Here’s how you will get your rebate; 3. Announcement: Your rebate should be here any day now, really!; 4. Announcement: Did you get your rebate? Because we’re not so sure; 5. Apology: Here’s why your rebate wasn’t for as much as you thought it would be and the obscure office to file a grievance.

• I wonder if we’ll have that same stupid tax problem we had with the last lame “rebate” (remember that?);

The last time the “rebate” was taxable income. The state giveth and the state taketh away.

All this for $50 or $25. What a pandering group of wastrels in our legislature.

Do you know who this is?

Forbes ranked her the third most powerful woman in the world in 2005.

Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister Ukraine

It’s Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine.

She’s 47. She rarely appears without her famous crown braid.

Credit: All-Ukrainian Union Fatherland. Click the image for a larger version.

Drinking age

There’s a news item circulating that a number of college presidents recommend lowering the drinking age to 18. According to the reports, the presidents believe it would reduce binge drinking.

NewMexiKen has a better idea. You must be 21 to drink alcoholic beverages unless you are a high school graduate. My plan might reduce binge drinking AND lower the drop out rate.

That’s rich

Commenting on today’s NewMexiKen poll, Tom has provided some interesting thoughts about being rich. I’m not certain I agree completely with his framework, but I find much of it compelling. Rich is surely better defined by accumulated wealth than by annual income.

I don’t believe you are “rich” if you cannot afford to send your children to college without incurring long term debt (you or them). I don’t believe you are rich if your home is your sole source of savings. I don’t believe you are rich if you finance your car (unless by choice). I don’t believe you are rich if you cannot, as Tom suggests, sustain your lifestyle (without debt), even if your annual income drops substantially.

You might be quite comfortable. You might have a lot of discretionary income. But to have any meaning at all — “possessing great material wealth” — being “rich” surely implies money and lifestyle markedly different from middle class.

Internet and customer service update

I tested the download speed just now and recorded 10.19Mbps. That’s with Qwest broadband with optic fiber to the neighborhood. I’m paying for the 12Mbps tier, but I’m reasonably happy.

Apple has extended subscriptions to MobileMe another two months due to the problems we’ve had. Better that there weren’t any hassles, but I admire them for giving their customers an adjustment up front. I have a free 60-day trial that has turned into 150 days and my problems have been minor.

AAA insurance customer service on the other hand sucks. When I called to cancel the policy for my dad’s townhouse, they told me there would be a $40 charge — this on a $200 annual premium. When I grumbled that we’ve sold the property, not just cancelled the policy, I’m told that she (the customer service rep) will waive the charge. So if you don’t complain, you pay $40. Nice.

Then yesterday, after nearly two weeks, I called to ask about the refund. She’ll send out the check today this customer rep tells me. How long do you wait if you don’t ask?

And don’t even get me started on Tucson Electric Power.

The British

. . . landed on the Patuxent River in Maryland on this date in 1814. It took them five days to reach Washington.

The vanishing podunk in the desert

I love this rant from ‘Burque Babble first posted here two years ago. (This is just an excerpt, you should read it all.)

What’s this I hear about New Mexico going to two automobile license plates? If it ain’t bad enough that we’re gonna get more than one area code, now we gotta consider getting all cosmopolitan by stickin’ another license plate on the front of our cars. What’s next, High Occupancy Vehicles lanes? Light rail? Thai restaurants in the South Valley?

I’m afraid NM is losing that inefficient, podunk feel that brought many of us here in the first place. …

Thankfully, we haven’t turned all HOV lanes and pad thai yet. As I’ve mentioned before, NM has a stunningly high number of folks who not only don’t have two license plates on their car, they don’t even have one metal license plate. Instead, there is a piece of paper illegibly stuck inside their dark-tinted rear window.

In between

Jill, official oldest daughter of NewMexiKen, reports on Aidan (he’ll be five one month from today):

Byron’s office had his summer picnic today at a waterpark.
 
Aidan was somewhat discouraged because most of the slides and water activities were set up for people 48 inches or taller, and he isn’t quite there.  After we stood in line for a ropes course only to find he couldn’t reach the rope, I suggested we walk over and join [his brother] Reid in the “little kids” area.
 
We walked over to that section; Aidan took one look and said, “Oh I can’t go in there, Mommy.  I would feel foolish.”

By the way, Aidan and Reid’s older brother Mack competed in his second full triathlon Sunday and placed fourth. Anyone who finishes a triathlon gets my applause, especially a 7-year-old. And the distances were longer this week than previously, so a real achievement. Awesome little guy!

Doldrums

Maybe part of it is just August — last year I had a poll on your least favorite month and August edged out January. I see that FunctionalAmbivalent is taking some time off to reconsider his blog.

Maybe an exciting new NewMexiKen poll would help.

At Saturday’s Saddleback Forum (NewMexiKen and family lived just down the road for 10 years), Senators Obama and McCain were asked to define “rich” with a number. They were asked the question in the context of taxes and so answered with an income number (though one could argue that rich is defined by net worth and includes much more than income).

Granted then, that like so much of our discourse, this is too simple to be very meaningful, but —

{democracy:38}

Why bother?

Donna, official friend of NewMexiKen, doesn’t want me to blog about the election. (And for that matter Obama only looks good any more because McCain is so god awful — in other words it’s turning into a typical election.)

Jill and Emily, official daughters of NewMexiKen, don’t want me to blog about the Olympics for fear I may reveal another winner in real time. (But it is a sporting event you know, not a TV program, whatever NBC thinks.)

Ephraim doesn’t want me to blog about climate warming for fear science will over react and freeze the planet.

I don’t want to blog about birthdays.

And the only best line I’ve seen was at Sideline Chatter that the Chinese women’s gymnastics team tested positive for Desitin. (It’s for diaper rash — ‘cuz they look so young — sort of adapted from Dick Vitale.)

Blogging got me better service from Comcast, otherwise . . .

Netflix without the mail

Stream movies directly to your TV from Netflix with Netflix Online Movie Rentals.

  • Movies you watch instantly are included in a Netflix membership – no additional costs.
  • The Netflix Player by Roku is the first in a series of Netflix ready devices.
  • Choices in your instant Queue will be available to watch instantly on your TV via the Netflix ready device.
  • This device communicates with Netflix directly via the internet, allowing us to stream movies instantly to your TV.
  • $99.99 one time for the Roku.

NewMexiKen’s neighbor told me about it. He certainly seemed enthusiastic.

It is just a subset of Netflix DVDs, about 12,000 titles they say.

Santa Fe Indian Market

Next weekend.

Each year the Santa Fe Indian Market includes 1,200 artists from about 100 tribes who show their work in over 600 booths. The event attracts an estimated 100,000 visitors to Santa Fe from all over the world. Buyers, collectors and gallery owners come to Indian Market to take advantage of the opportunity to buy directly from the artists. For many visitors, this is a rare opportunity to meet the artists and learn about contemporary Indian arts and cultures. Quality is the hallmark of the Santa Fe Indian Market.

SWAIA: Southwestern Association for Indian Arts

Most irritating line of the day, so far

“Cannot play media. Sorry, this media is not available in your territory.”

BBC SPORT

That’s what you see if you try and watch the video of say Jamaica’s Usain Bolt winning the 100m in world record time UNTIL NBC IS GOOD AND READY FOR YOU TO SEE IT. Bastards.

A race of less than 10 seconds and he’s cruising with a big lead. Awesome.

Bolt

Bolt, is that the greatest name ever for the “world’s fastest human,” or not?

Republicans win

A Republican friend (I have more than one) writes of a symbolic victory — symbolic being all Republicans are likely to have this year.

But, I just found out I have to go to Denver on 26th-28th of August. Went to book my hotel only to find that every single Marriott within 60 miles of Denver is sold out due to the stupid Democratic convention. No problem though, I was able to use my status to kick some poor unsuspecting Democrat to the curb. We may not win the election, but I at least will have the satisfaction of kicking some poor slob out for two nights. How dare they go where I need to go? Higher taxes??? Sleep on the curb, beeyatch!!!

Is Kansas as flat as a pancake?

Two geography professors did the research.

In this report, we apply basic scientific techniques to answer the question “Is Kansas as flat as a pancake?”

While driving across the American Midwest, it is common to hear travelers remark, “This state is as flat as a pancake.” To the authors, this adage seems to qualitatively capture some characteristic of a topographic geodetic survey. This obvious question “how flat is a pancake” spurned our analytical interest, and we set out to find the ‘flatness’ of both a pancake and one particular state: Kansas.

Improbable Research

Answer: Yes.

August 16th

… is the birthday of Fess Parker, the actor who played Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone. He’s 84.

Parker and NewMexiKen have at least one thing in common. We had the same Russian language professor in college; Parker at Texas, NewMexiKen at Arizona. He was Professor Arthur Coleman and, as I remember it, he was the very first American Ph.D. ever in Slavic languages. By the time he showed up at Arizona in the early 1960s, Coleman was more-or-less retired, staying just one year as a visiting professor — as much character as educator, which is why we learned he’d taught Fess Parker.

Actor Robert Culp is 78 today. He was Bill Cosby’s sidekick (or Cosby was his) in the first TV series to feature an African-American, I Spy.

Frank Gifford is 78 today. Kathie Lee Gifford is 55 today.

One-time Oscar nominee for best supporting actress, Lesley Ann Warren is 62 today.

Oscar-winner James Cameron is 54. Cameron won, of course, for Titanic — writer, director, best picture.

Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone is 50.

Best actress Oscar nominee Angela Bassett is 50 today too.

Supporting actor Oscar-winner Timothy Hutton is 48.

Steve Carrell is 45.

Emily Robison of the Dixie Chicks is 36. Originally Emily Erwin (Robison is her married name), she and her sister Martie (now Maguire) founded the group with two other classmates. The other two left and the group added Natalie Maines as the lead singer in 1995.

Football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg was born on this date in 1862. Stagg, Skull and Bones at Yale, was on the first All-America team ever (1889). He coached most famously at the University of Chicago, 1892-1932. Stagg developed the man-in-motion and the lateral pass — and developed basketball as a five man game. He is in both the college football and basketball halls of fame.

Elvis Presley died 31 years ago today, he was 42. Margaret Mitchell died 59 years ago today, at age 48. Babe Ruth died 60 years ago today, he was 53. Robert Johnson died 70 years ago today, he was 27.

The first issue of Sports Illustrated was published 54 years ago.

Little Farm on the Suburb

Jill, official oldest daughter of NewMexiKen, reports:

Mack and Aidan went to Fair Camp this week (at the county fair). Part of the week is creating a potato scene and entering it for judging in the fair. At Mack’s urging, his group did an Olympics swimming theme and dressed the potatoes in little caps and swim suits. They won third place and all the team members got ribbons. So now Mack and Aidan have 4-H county fair ribbons. I think they should tell people it is for raising hogs.