The Soap Box
A place for me to dump my brain and you to pick thru it

Just FYI
12:15am

From weather.com:

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT 1051 PM MST SAT DEC 30 2006
...ANOTHER WINTER STORM POSSIBLE TO GREET THE NEW YEAR...
ANOTHER DEVELOPING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IN THE NORTHERN PACIFIC OCEAN WILL MOVE SOUTH AND EAST...AND COULD AFFECT NEW MEXICO WITH A WINTRY START TO THE NEW YEAR ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.

Winter Storm Warning #2 - Day 2
3:12pm

It's snowing for a second day and Southwest has again canceled all flights at the Sunport. The airport is, in fact, open but all flights are basically canceled. I'm not sure why they bother to keep it open, quite frankly. Yesterday around 5pm, we walked from our house down to Tramway and Central which is just south of I40. Notice the green light and no traffic moving in the picture below:

I don't know where all these people thought they were going to go. Here is a shot of Central leading to I40. No one is moving and notice how little traffic is coming the other way.

Also notice that there has been basically no plowing going on. All the plows that the city has (which is not many) are being used on I40 and I25, even though they ended up having to shut down I25 from Albuquerque to the CO border last night.

It was not all an ugly, slushy mess however. Here is a pic of the bike path that runs along the length of Tramway. It was so peaceful and lovely (and cold!).

This afternoon, we took the mile and a half walk again down to Tramway and Central to get some food at Einstein's bagels and check out the action. 18-wheelers were parked on the road for as long as you can see. They are parked for literally miles up Tramway waiting for I40 to open. We chose to get some extra cups of coffee at Starbucks and pass them out along the way home. This one trucker could not believe we were giving out free coffee! He was so thankful and took my picture as a souvenir of his wonderful time trapped in Albuquerque. (ha!)

Anyway, we are under a winter storm warning until tomorrow morning. New Year's Eve should be very interesting tomorrow night, if we can dig our way out!

Here We Go Again!
11:09am

It is snowing like a banshee out there again. It's really beautiful but the assholes who don't know how to drive in the snow are out. I stupidly went out and on the way back home, one jerk tried to pass me and lost control. He did not actually crash but I hope it taught him a lesson. Then within a half mile, I saw 2 people spin out. See, if you start to skid, you're NOT supposed to jam on the brakes, idiots. If you don't know how to drive in the snow then don't go out and drive in it. Pretty simple, huh?

PS: Susan, I'm willing the snow to you this time. Enjoy!

UPDATE: 6:26pm - There's about a foot outside my door and they say we could get another foot before it stops! Could someone loan me a snow shovel?

This is Where You Give Me Advice
10:13pm

I have 2 things that I need your advice on.

1) I want Moby's Extreme Ways as a ringtone on my phone. Is there a way I can rip part of it, send it to my phone and use it as a ringtone? My phone is a Samsung t209 and does not have any sort of USB connection.

2) In an effort to simplify my life, I want to get rid of a bunch of fiction books that I've read and will most likely never read again. I REALLY don't want to advertise them one at a time on eBay, etc. What should I do with them? Should I donate them to a local library? Should I take them to a second hand book store? Should I leave them in the Grad Lounge at school and let people take them? What do you think?

Favorite Quote Of The Year
12:39pm

"You were in Baghdad for 6 hours! And you weren't even in the real Baghdad. You were in the Green Zone. That's like going to the Olive Garden and saying you've been to Italy!" - Jon Stewart

This is NOT My House
9:40am

Ahhhh, Christmas! When excess beats out taste. How many lights and decorations can one put on one's lawn? Well, I'm sure this family could put more stuff on their lawn, but this is pretty close. As Nick puts it, "It looks like Christmas crapped on their lawn."

Let me break this down for you (and for the record, this is only the left side of the house): On the far left, you have a reindeer flying out of the picture. To the right, there is another reindeer nosediving into the ground. To the right of the tree is Wile E. Coyote on a surf board. We then have a polar bear skiing in a red lighted arch. And then of course, there is the inflatable Frosty the Snowman.

To the right of Frosty, is a herd of skeletal reindeer who are camped out in front of Santa in a NASCAR with his elvish pit crew.

And let's not forget a personal message from the proud homeowners!

Honestly, this is not a typical New Mexican house. The photos below are more what you are likely to see around here.

Pardon this slight out of focus. I took this from kinda far away because I didn't want to walk onto the property. However, Having vehicles that don't run on your lawn is all too common in New Mexico, ala this VW bus. Notice the lights on the front are actually in a heart shaped pattern.

Now what really makes this a more typical New Mexico house is the fact that there is a wheelbarrow (green no less) just sitting out in front of the house. I'd be willing to bet that it hasn't moved in years. However, the snow on top of the lights is not seen during your average Christmas here but is very welcome.

I hope you and your family have a blindingly wonderful holiday.

I Hate Things Like This
9:06am

On November 1st, a new upscale mall opened up on my side of town. Oh, excuse me. It's not a mall, it's a "Unique Urban Community" and it's called ABQ Uptown (dumb name). They have stores like Coldwater Creek, J. Jill, Pottery Barn, and Williams Sonoma. Now, I knew the older, more conventional mall, kitty-corner from this new place was open until 10pm so I figured the fancy-schamcy place MUST be open until 10pm as well so at 9pm, Nick and I headed over there hoping the place wasn't mobbed. Well, it wasn't...because half the stores were closed already. I'm thinking, WTF? How can half the stores be open and half closed? How can they be closed before the other mall across the street? How much money are they losing by this incredibly clever marketing strategy? Could someone PLEASE turn off that alarm that is just going off continuously?

So this morning, I looked at their web site and sure enough, the hours of operation state they are open until 10pm on Saturday. Fuckers. The weird thing is that today's hours are listed as 12 am (that would be midnight) until 6pm. Now I KNOW they were not opening at midnight last night so as far as I can figure they just put random hours of operation on their website which inspires great confidence in me that they are totally full of shit and that this is now my least favorite place to shop. Thanks asshats.

I hope your last minute shopping goes smoother than mine.

Things are Looking Up
10:47pm

The sun came out today and I can't remember when I was soooo happy to see it. Only 2 days of clouds made me stir-crazy and rather bummed out. Hooray for the sun!

In other news, there is a very good chance that the space shuttle is going to land in White Sands in the southern part of New Mexico! The bad part is that they aren't going to say until 90 minutes before landing if White Sands is going to be the place and it takes 4 hours to drive down there so there is very little chance I could see the big bird in flight. However, they said on the news tonight that it will take 45 to 60 days to get a crane needed to remove the shuttle from White Sands so if it does land in my state, I will have plenty of time to take a little road trip down south to see it. Considering the fleet is to be retired soon, it may be my only chance to ever see a space shuttle.

Hey Betty! Wanna come with? We could pick you up on the way down.

PS: My dentist appt was rescheduled for tomorrow! Wahhhhhhh!

Snow Day!
12:45pm

Just about everything is closed. Even UNM has a snow day. This would be more exciting if I weren't already on Christmas break. Anyway, I have pictures for you. You probably won't think they are anything special but remember this is Albuquerque...in the desert.

I doubt this deer ever thought he's be chest deep in snow!

This is a Red Texas Yucca with fruit on it. I'm not sure the fruit is going to survive this winter blast.

I'm sure this tree will be beautiful tonight when the owners trun on the Christmas lights.

I'm not sure what this plant is but the red berries look beautiful against the pristine snow.

Winter Storm Warning - Day 3
7:58am

I am not kidding. We are still under a winter storm warning and it's still snowing. I40 is closed from Tramway (by where I live on the east side of the city) to the Texas border. The "Big I" (the intersection of I25 and I40 in the heart of the city) is closed which I have never heard of. I'll get some pictures later for your viewing pleasure.

Wahhhhhhhh!
9:32am

I have an appointment to see the dentist tomorrow. In case you don't know, I am a dental-phobic. I haven't gone to a dentist since I had a root canal a year and a half ago. At that time, even after 4 shots of Novocaine, I was in tears as the sadist dentist continued to drill and shove implements in my mouth. What made me make an appointment at this time is that my teeth hurt soooo bad recently I thought for sure I was heading for another root canal. Thank God that pain has subsided but I figure it was a warning that I better not ignore. I wonder if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight...

Dick in a Box
8:51pm

Don't ask. Just watch.

Winter Storm Warning
8:26pm

A storm is a-brewin' outside and it seems like it's gonna be a big one. The wind is whipping around the house at around 43 mph. We could get anywhere from 1 to 10 inches of snow. This scares some people but I'm really excited! Nothing makes it feel more like Christmas than a good dumping of snow.

Having said that, I do hope we don't lose power as it will get REALLY cold in the house. The thermostat is set at 70 and it's 66 in our bedroom, typically the warmest room of the house.The furnace is on constantly and I'm just concerned that our next bill will be $800 or something outrageous like that.

Anyway, if you don't hear from me for a few days, blame it on the weather.

PS: Happy belated birthday Nicholas! I love you!

Seriously...
4:40pm

What's cuter than this kitten?

Not much, if you ask me!

Guess What I Did Last Night?
10:40am

I graduated with my Master's degree! Woohoo!!! I went to the ceremony and everything! Now I just need to wait 6 weeks for the actual diploma.

Of course, this is not the end of my academic career. There is still the PhD to go...

For Today's Most Unusual News Story...
1:51pm

...I give you this.

Note to Future Self
8:50pm

Next time you get a hankerin' for a kitten please remember the following:

• Kittens have very sharp toofies and like to bite the human beings.
• Kitten poop is the most atrocious smelling thing ever in your house, especially when you are changing their food from crappy shelter food to normal cat food.
• Kittens have no respect for the sleeping human beings.
• Kittens have an infinite amount of energy and you will not be able to tire them out. They will outlast you every time.
• Kittens will always pester the adult cats, creating cat fights on the bed in the middle of the night.

Good thing Bodhi is so damn cute, let me tell you!

In Case You Care
11:42pm

Jewel Staite, known as Kaylee on Firefly, is joining the cast of Stargate Atlantis (which I didn't even know was still on). It's almost enough to make me figure out when/where Stargate is on...almost...

My Favorite News Story of the Day...
8:10pm

...is here. Because, you know, this is such an important story it really does deserve a link from the bbc.com front page. There's nothing else going on in the whole world, so why not?

Does Nobody Know Grammar?
9:51pm

My mom always told me that people would judge me on how I talked....including the grammar I used and if I spoke with a Boston accent. SHe told me in no uncertain terms that people with a Boston accent sounded illiterate. She really had a thing about illiteracy. One of her biggest put downs was to call someone illiterate. I was once dating a guy who she chose to call "Illiterate Bob." He wasn't illiterate but he did have a regional accent. In fact, she even threatened me with bodily harm if I spoke with a Boston accent. Hence, I don't have one.

Anyway, I find grammatical mistakes in public places on a daily basis...from signs outside of restaurants to web sites. I always thought it was a mark of the quality of a business if they actually proofread their materials. God forbid a place would actually hire an editor to make sure they shoed pride in their work instead of ignorance of grammar. When you think of it though, how are kids supposed to learn grammar and/or spelling when they grow up with no models of the correct way to spell or speak?

The latest culprit of poor grammar comes from The Limited clothing store web site:

Do you see it? "Your invited" actually makes no grammatical sense. it's supposed to be "you're invited" as in "you are invited." I have to say that I was very surprised that a multimillion dollar company would be so sloppy. For me, if they don't know 5th grade grammar, what else don't they know? How to make clothing that won't become shredded as soon as I wash it? How to credit my credit card when I return their crappy sweater dress that makes me look like a cow?

Yes, I'm a grammar snob (married to a self-professed grammar nazi) and while I can look the other way on people's personal web sites, professional web sites that are for profit really need to take more care if they want to prove to me they are worthy of my hard-earned money.

Questions for You
10:38pm

Do you ever wonder how many rocket scientists watch a commercial for a hi def TV and think, "Well gosh dang! The picture on that TV is better than mine!"?

Is it a bad thing if I have 1004 email messages in my inbox?

Why do people care about who Britney Spears hangs out with?

Why do I always overeat pizza?

When did Jeopardy choose their categories to "tie in" to products coming out or just released?

Blog It Forward Holiday
9:39pm

It's that time again! Time to be kind to the Bloggers you love.

Most of us bloggers do this because we want to. We're not paid to do it and most of us don't place ads to offset the cost of hosting etc. So, to show you care, I am asking that you pick (at random or not) a blogger that you enjoy reading and send them a gift. Almost all of us bloggers have a wish list on Amazon or at least have mentioned things we like on our site. Spread the holiday cheer and embrace the old saying: 'tis better to give than to receive.

Please feel free to post this on your own site and happy holidays!

Your Tax $$ at Work
1:37am

Guess what is the latest government research at Los Alamos Labs, about 2 hours north of me. You couldn't guess this in a million years. Scientists are teaching honeybees to stick out their tongues (I didn't know they had tongues, but then I never thought about it) at explosive devices. Stop laughing. I'm serious. The project is called "Stealthy Insect Sensor Project." My main question is how can you see if their itty bitty tongues are stuck out or not? Do you need to use a magnifying glass to see if the bees buzzing around that ticking package have their tongues out? Sounds like a not very safe way to check for explosives to me!

Happy World AIDS Day
5:09pm

Not that there's anything really happy about it. In fact, wouldn't it be wonderful if there were no such thing as World AIDS Day because there was no such thing as AIDS? We've all heard about the thousands of orphans due to AIDS and how many millions of people are living with HIV right now. What I'd like to talk about his the hypocrisy regarding requiring donated money to fight the disease be used to teach abstinence.

Did you know that a full third of the money the US government has earmarked toward global AIDS prevention must be used for abstinence training? The governments who do not agree to teach abstinence only do not get any of the funds. We're talking billions of dollars here, folks, held back by the US government to countries around the world that is supposed to be used to fight AIDS. Now, you may be thinking, "What's wrong with that?" Well, I'll tell you. In sub-sarahan Africa, it is not uncommon for a woman to get HIV from her husband. How is she supposed to protect herself against HIV when all that's been taught is abstinence? Also, there is a myth that if a man has AIDS, he can get rid of it by having sex with a virgin. We're not talking consensual sex here people. Also, if you were a man desperate to find a virgin, where do you think you might look? How can you guarantee a girl is a virgin? Well, of course, there is no 100% guarantee but it's a good guess that if the girl is young..only months old in all too many cases...she hasn't had sex before.

These facts are disturbing and disgusting and you should feel revulsed. If you do not, you need to go seek help right now. The whole point about this is that abstinence is not going to stop the spread of this terrible disease. Too many of the victims of this illness are also victims of sexual violence. Abstinence as a cure is a luxury for those who have the choice of who, when, and how they partake in sexual activity. The US government is showing a lack of cultural tolerance and understanding by forcing the rest of the world to abide by its rules in order to get help battling an incurable disease. The requirement of using abstinence to battle AIDS is detrimental to the weakest and poorest in the world and is an illustration of how we, the superpower, continue to bully the rest of the world in a way that will eventually come back to harm us all.

Blog Name: The Soap Box
Email: jenben[at]g-r-c.com
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