In transit to Griboedov's

Tony Lama...Boots?

2007-03-27T09:05:00.000-07:00

http://www.tonylama.com/

spinning the wheel again

2007-02-08T13:08:00.000-08:00

Today, I could be anything.

I feel free and open. My time at the hotel allowed me an opportunity to see myself in vocations I never before considered. I don't know, but I am open.

My new job will be with my parent's architecture firm. They need someone to come and help them manage the office's affairs. I am going to do that. M-F. 40hrs weekly, weekends off, holidays free. I am sold.

I can now be one of the guests at the front desk who say, "I used to work for hyatt."

I still don't know what to think, but I am happy.

WAHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

2007-02-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

To the entire Hotel Staff:

Allow me to begin by saying that I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to work with such a dedicated and energetic staff. The excitement that each one of you brings to this environment allowed me to work through days that I found quite difficult. Thank you all for opening yourselves to me.

Tuesday, I received an employment offer that I accepted. I am writing to formally submit my two weeks notice. My last day will be Friday February 16th. I begin at the new office Monday the 19th.

I leave knowing that you all care about this hotel very much. It shows through your dedication. I hope that during my time with you that I assisted at times when I was needed. This new job will allow me to spend more time with my family. I’ll be around on the evenings and weekends.

Thank you again for the opportunity to work with each and every one of you.

with warm regards,

the hotel gabacho

resignation

2007-01-31T17:18:00.000-08:00

Tonight, I write my formal 2 week notice for the hotel.

I'll be completely done and at a new job February 19th.

Season's first snow

2006-11-30T00:06:00.000-08:00

Powdering in albuquerque.

19 degrees outside and a bike.

One of the more enjoyable rides of the year.

I can see how people can ride in minnesota each winter. One has to build up to it. It is not as unpleasant as it might seem. I guess people run all through winter. They can bike too apparently.

Da list

2006-11-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

Here you go ytoud leachim happy things

going down?
11. walking with a sunrise
10. the smell of cold weather on someone walking into a warm building
09. the smell of rain
08. being surprised by the unexpected
07. the jack of nobs or the jack of heels (either one)
06. brownies
05. the moment water boils
04. blowing out a candle
03. a bike ride where I am not going to work
02. baby smiles
01. steam off coffee

first book in ages

2006-11-16T10:01:00.000-08:00

I have tried on a number of occasions to post. usually, it turns into stuff about work. My schedule is the same as ever. Last week, 6 days a week. this week, 6 days. next week...6 days. Friday begins our slow season and I wait for it like a kid for christmas.

That isn't what I am wanting to talk about. I am reading my first book in more months than I can count. I think the last one I read was Anne Lammot's "Operating Instructions" and that was right before Tobiah was born. So four months? Maybe?

I am reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I was always interested in the title and the apparent subversive material. I looked at those who read it and knew that for someone it meant something. Now that I am reading it, I can see that it is a rather well thought out book. It is giving my mind the chance to do some stretching.

The interesting thing is that yesterday I forsook all other house/life duties to read for about an hour. I had to leave for work and on my way I realized that my pace on the road was slower than usual. I wasn't pushing myself in the traffic flow. I even took a less populated road to work.

For the first time in quite awhile I was able to slow myself down just a tad. I think the book did it. I had other things to think about than my job and my commute.

In other news, Last month marked a year since we sold our car. I have been riding/walking/bussing to work for a year now. This little experiment has influenced me in many different ways.

My definition of 'around the block' has changed. I realized this last night when a guest asked how far a hotel was from our hotel. The embassy suites is on lomas at the interstate. I could walk there in about 15-20 minutes. I told him, "not that far". He asked, "How far is that?". I told him to take a cab. My longest walk is from here to the hotel. It takes about 40 min. I have yet to walk farther, because if I need to I can take public transportation.

Also, I understand now what a car is useful for and what can be done on other transport. My daily commute is perfect for a bike ride. The amount of time I would gain by driving I would lose with parking. It also appears that I could cross the city in about the same amount as a car stuck in rush hour. A car is nice when dealing with multiple people and a little babe (although tobiah has few complaints about his carrier now, he likes to look out and see the world around him).

I despise the public bus. One, it is slow. One sunday morning, I missed a bus at central that was going to take me down to work. I started walking and beat the next bus to downtown (a 30 min+ walk). Usually if I am going a few blocks I can beat the bus to my destination. With my bike, I will wait longer at the bus stop than it would take me to ride to where I need to be. Plus, the bus attracts many people I find it difficult to deal with. Yesterday, I stood at a stop and an intoxicated man came up and called me a Nazi, becasue I wore an olive wool topcoat and a hat. He then said, "goodbye hitler" as I got off.

This city's mayor says that he wants to be a city that embraces public transport. I see it as a far goal to reach. So much is missing from the current system. I am a healthy person who can walk rather quickly. I feel for those with any measure of hindered mobility. The elderly manage on the lines, but I imagine it can be difficult at times.

well cheers.

the quiet apartment

2006-09-05T12:35:00.000-07:00

or, "quite" apartment as the security guards type it at the hotel

Today I took Tobiah to his first day of child care. Sorry kid. I suppose it is alright though. I was five days old when I began that regime. Now I am back home for a minute before I go into work. It is completely quiet here. I walked in expecting to hear him cry or hear the swing help him sleep. Now the Flaming Lips and Josh Ritter provide the only sound. Even the guinea pig is silent.

I am amazed at the speed that we have been working lately. We made the decision about massage school two weeks ago. From there time was filled with tasks, applications and visits. It just might work out. It seems like everything might work out completely. I still wait for some cosmic axe to fall and cut it all apart, but maybe it will stave itself this time.

Maybe we can be lucky this time.

On my way home I was able to see Wendy on her lunch break. I met a few of the other students and they all seem nice. I think this will be a good move for us for awhile. One of the other students has two linguistics degrees. Apparently she just wanted to study and now needs something to do.

Have you ever watched Star Trek and looked at the crew's faces when they are trying some slipshod-seat of the pants operation to save their lives? I feel like if you looked at me right now my face might look like that. I realize now that getting things to happen takes a great deal of energy. There are so many things that could go wrong (and this is not just in regards to my own life, but communication in general). It is truly an inspired divine act when we manage to communcate enough to accomplish anything.

I am going to have a brownie. They don't require high altitude baking instructions. I can still make them pretty well. Wendy made this batch. mmmmmm.

Its been a long day's nighht and I'm

2006-09-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

a workin like a dooooooggg.

Not much to report. Wendy starts massage therapy school tomorrow and I am now working 7 days a week. 5 for the hotel and 2 for my parents, helping them finish the construction project that brought us out to this state in the first place.

Lately, I have been thinking alot about how maleable identity is. It amazes me that people's viewpoints and understanding can differ greatly over the course of a lifetime. Yet, biologically we are and have been basically the same physical being.

After watching a show on dinosaurs on Discovery, I was thinking about how these animals went extinct. From a scientific perspective, it is possible that the human race could go extinct. What would the next conscious being say about our civilization? They would probably look at our system like we view a tunnel created by ants or termites.

Anyway, on another topic, we need help from the milligan people. Answer this question for us (we went rounds about it last night):

If a party were hosted during Milligan's homecomming weekend, say at the Carnegie, should there be a tasteful open bar included in the festivities? Why/why not?

I anticpate answers.

Tobiah, say hello.

2006-07-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

2006-07-06T22:02:00.000-07:00

Tobiah Adam Barras was born today, the sixth of the seventh of 2006 at 3:30am. He is 21 inches long and weighs 8lbs and 4oz. Mother and baby are doing well.

peace. I am going to bed.

indignant

2006-06-12T01:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, another hotel issue (I promise that eventually I will put something else up here), it is just my life right now.

There is a walkway right next to the hotel. It is 4th st and west of the hotel. the city made it pedestrian only. It is between some large buildings and there are fully matured shade trees lining this street. In the summer, there is a definite difference in temperature. There is also a city plaza directly north of the hotel. It has a fountain and more shade.

Over memorial day there was a carneval in the plaza. This meant that there was a greater police presence.

Albuquerque, like other places, has a homeless/indigent population. Most of the shelters, ministries and food pantrys are located downtown. This is a fact for all who work in this area. There is also a large bar scene. It is albuquerque's crucible. Many people trying to get things done. Business people, tourists, clubbers, etc.

Ok, well when the police were in civic plaza they caused a migration of those who hang out during the day. They began to hang out on 4th street in greater numbers. This causes problems for us becasue of the guests. Our hotel guests don't like to see these people. They feel less safe, wonder about us as a hotel etc.

So we call the police.

When things get crazy(drugs knives etc), we begin to call them over. We give them a hotel room so they can do a stakeout. They arrest drug users and help clear the area. We make sure that they know.

So here is where my indignation begins:

Tonight there was a guest who decided that he needed to smoke marijuana in his room. His smoke smell filled the corridor. He ordered room service. The server could smell it heavliy.

The news comes to me and the security guard. After thinking about the situation we decide to call the police. Illegal substance...we call them on those on 4th st for the same thing...call the cops on him too. It seems consistent. The police come to the hotel and they say that we have to let them in. We authorize them. Also, only what is in plain sight is admissible in court.

Then they ask if I am willing to refund them if the guests get kicked out. This is where I get cold feet. I think that maybe I should call someone about it. So I do. Next in Line tells me to go to Next in Line who tells me to go to the rooms director. He tells me, "think about it. What does your common sense tell you?" I say 'to call the police'

he says 'no', that we have no tangible evidence, and then directs me to leave a message (in case the guest was asleep) and give him a 'warning'.

I tell the police thanks but no thanks.

I feel really cheap now. This hotel has spent many hours getting the police to clear those without money and "image" away from here. We happen to use their drug use against them. Convenient. But when drug use comes with a 1000 dollar stay, it also becomes conveniet to say nothing and pretend it is not happening.

I despise this inconsistency.

Ask a mexican

2006-05-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

The alibi, 'burque's weekly events free paper, has started running a column called "Ask the Mexican". This column comes from Orange County's weekly events/free paper. Basically, people ask the questions they have always been wondering about Mexicans/latino culture. The questions that get printed are the most outlandish versions. So instead of, "What is the impetus behind leaving mexico and going to the US?", someone has asked, "why the *&%* do you *$(@#*! come over here?" The columnist pulls the punch and returns with his own left hook.

Orange County is not like the show depicts. According to the article introducing the 'burque to Gustavo Arellano, the actual writer, it is 50% white, 30% latino, and the rest are the other demographics. That makes them enough of the population to rub plenty of people (who could trace their own heritages to some immigrant) the wrong way.

I have been enjoying these questions and found one quite enjoyable. "Dear Mexican, why do you call white people gringos?" The answer, only gringos call gringos gringos. Mexicans call gringos gabachos.

This weekend I found out that my uncle denied his two daughters access to their hispanic roots. What I mean is, he told them not to claim it as their heritage. He would tell them, "I don't want you to call yourselves hispanics." He said this until he realized that one of my cousins could get into a good veterinary school with a full ride scholarship by using her name and that culture.

So basically I am a cultural gabacho. I never knew that there was a word like that.

I am, currently, a hotel gabacho.

An open letter to those who honk at me on my ride to work...

2006-05-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

So far, since october, there have only been two of you. The two teens who thought it funny to honk at me while parked at a red light don’t count anymore. You two have made the hall of fame. You actually used the energy to try and communicate verbally with me while driving down the road.

To the first one, Mr. White Chevy Silvarado, who didn’t know what to do with my presence:

I don’t know what you were trying to say to me. Your voice was muddled by the passenger seat. I am sorry that you were not comfortable enough to trust that I would hold my line. If you watched me for a few days, you would see that I try to remain on the left side of where the white line would be if Lead St. had one. It actually has a pretty distinct pattern of wear from tires, I use this instead. I don’t want to run into parked cars. All you had to do was hug the dotted white line and you could have passed me just fine. Honking at me from behind does nothing except frustrate me and startle me. I think there is actually something wrong.

To the second. Mr. Red 2006 Ford F150, who was bothered enough to cut me off and then at the light, while you waited to turn onto the interstate, stick your head out at me and say, “Blocking Traffic!”:

I am sorry that I flipped you off. I try to be better than that. You cut me off. I have rights. You also looked rather stupid with that cellphone earpiece with the microphone cover. Were you trying to look like Garth Brooks? I picked Lead as my commute route, because it is posted at 30 MPH. With the right bicycle I could easily hit that limit. As it was, I was probably doing 20. I know that I didn’t look like I was out on a joyride. I broke a sweat. I don’t ride on roads that have a high volume of traffic. I don’t feel comfortable on them. Plus, if you were to watch me for a few days, you would notice that after the interstate, I promptly get into the bike lane. I don’t hold you up anymore than I have to. It is not my fault if you were running late to your job on the other side of Albuquerque.

I can’t think of a good solution here. We really need to share the road. I don’t belong on the sidewalk. If I was riding at the speed that I was when you saw me, someone could get hurt. I have cursed at a number of people riding on the sidewalk. I can only imagine what you would say as you and your family were leaving a restaurant and I came whizzing by within inches of your mother. It’s best that I remain in the street.

I know you both probably receive a good bit of flack for driving trucks. Trucks and SUV’s are easy targets. My interactions with you only make it that much easier for me. When you treat me that way I hope that gas goes to European levels.

When I was there in 2003 gas was a dollar a liter and there are approximately 4 per gallon. Hence $4 per gallon. I know the prices in Europe are only rising. eia.doe.gov has a graph somewhere that I got by googling, showing that as of May 1st, Germany was averaging 6.50 a gallon. www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/prices.html if you are curious.

That would hurt your truck. $130 per fill if your truck had a 20 gallon tank.

It is my friends and family that I feel badly for. I know the anxiety of rising gas prices.

So I will play gas-cost roulette with either of you two if you wish. I would even set down ground rules that restrict me so that things were level. Let’s raise the cost until one of us says uncle.

Mostly I just want to get to work.

Wednesday 4.12.06

2006-04-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

One sunday afternoon, Wendy and I walked into our favorite cafe in this city. The Flying Star is a great place for coffee (bottomless cup, freshly roasted) and enough pastries to turn an average person into Jabba the Hut. Decadent. My kind of place. The soundtrack and decor are rather pleasing also. But the cake. Oh goodness.

So we went there one day. I walk through the door and hear my name called out. “ADAM!” It was a good friend from high school. One of the people who lives in the same part of town, but that I had yet to run into. I had been waiting for this moment for quite some time. We chatted and planned to meet a little while later. Same place.

That day happened to be today. The day before maundy thursday.

Our conversation was quite enjoyable. We played catch up, sizing up where each of us was now standing. Like stepping on ice, wondering if it will hold or crack. It held.

As time went by we began talking about our experiences in high school and the youth group that we both went to. The discussion went on, but it became apparent that she didn’t cherish certain people as well as I expected. Eventually she asked. “You don’t know?”

I didn’t. not even close.

Her senior year her mother had cancer. During that trying time an elder in her church that she had known since childhood began soliciting her. He waited until she was “legal”, but he managed to get to her. She didn’t know what was going on. For a period of six months. Meanwhile she showed the signs of an overly busy senior year.

When the air cleared and her parents found out the elders gathered to talk about it. The discussion was closed off and never brought before the church, except through their wives’ gossip. He still goes to that church with his wife and three children.

I have said enough about it. This is her story to tell, not mine. I want to take a very different turn with this now.

I am trying to figure this out. What are its implications? If the church is for the repentant, what do we do when such a blatantly nonrepentant action occurs? For the last few months I have been constantly struggling with trying to understand the church community. I know that I can’t live without it, but right now living with it seems like one of the hardest actions possible. Is there a point when we can say, “the church is no longer matches the true kingdom,” and be done with it? I place a great deal of emphasis on the fact that I found out in the middle of holy week. “Do this in remembrance of me,” he said on Thursday.

One of my first reactions is to find a way to brush what I just heard off. It is the same reaction that I have when I find out that Pat Robertson has denounced so and so, or when I hear about things like mega-churches shutting down for Christmas day services. It is me thinking, “surely not”. Not my affiliations. Not me. However, there comes a point when I can no longer distance myself. I am linked to this situation and caught in the spotlight.

The problem with this reaction is that I immediately realized that this situation is far more difficult than the latest story about ‘those christians’. Her story can’t be swept away into the corner. I have heard and am no longer the same. If I ignored it, I would be pretending and trying to fool myself. I would become a parable. Maybe, “the story of the man who wouldn’t hear”.

The trouble is, I want to hear. I want to stand in this and speak out. I want to live among those who don’t treat the kingdom that Jesus was trying to bring about as if it was meaningless. I want more than a weekend morning. I seek an incarnated life with others.

So here is my rub. How can I learn to trust those around me within the sanctuary when I now know that there are wolves in the midst, sparkling in the glass but biting venomously on the way down? Is the kingdom worth that? If so, why didn’t they kick him out?

I can't accept the answer, "sometimes you have to suffer through it in the hope of changing someone's mind," this time. That works for sunday school, but not this.

Monday 4.10

2006-04-20T01:09:00.000-07:00

Monday as most of you are aware was the rallying day across the country on behalf of the illegal immigrant population. Monday was also one of the major rallies here in Albuquerque. The hispanic population rallied in the downtown area right next to the hotel. I was sleeping during the rally but it clogged traffic and held up people’s days for a full morning and afternoon. I knew it was coming because of the Senate’s decisions the previous week. I saw the news about it before I began walking down to the hotel.

I have a vested interest in this entire situation as a person living in and raised in New Mexico, one of the states with the largest percentages of hispanics. I guess this issue has surrounded me for many years and I was definitely unaware of it as I grew up. If I were to go back to UNM for anthropology I would probably want to focus upon the border issue. Presently I am wrapped up in many feelings about this issue.

The first feeling I have toward those who gathered in civic plaza on Monday is a sense of solidarity. I respect the men, women and children who gathered there. High school students skipped class and faced suspension in order to be there. Those who were illegal and in the crowd were facing arrest. Yet the crowd was not entirely comprised of illegal immigrants. There were legal citizens there as well. I find that brave. I am glad that they stood there in support of those receiving little.

A coworker that I was talking to saw the protest as achieving very little. In his eyes it expressed that we live in a weak society where a protest can block some traffic. Even if it did “accomplish” very little in the eyes of political policy, I hope that it helped create a solidified understanding that Washington does not have all the answers for the hispanic community. I know that other rallies like this have created dramatic shifts in voter populations. California experienced such a thing a few years ago. The hispanics rallied, started voter registration campaigns and managed to swing the state from republican majority to democrat majority. I would be glad to see a similar event.

I also see a great amount of injustice heaped onto illegal immigrants. Yes, they have broken our laws. Yet there is an equal if not greater amount of blame that I want to heap onto the employers who gave them jobs. They are an equal player in this matter. I hear a great amount of backlash against the immigrants (a different coworker referred to them as, “those damn wetbacks” to my face). Meanwhile I want to scream at the sweatshop owners in El Paso, or the farm bosses, or the construction companies. They are not working to fix the problem. if they were hiring legitimate citizens their operating costs would rise.

Finally, I am really sad that the government is considering such harsh actions toward those living in this country who have been here for quite some time. Our government is not as retrospective as I would like them to be. They haven’t admitted that our contemporary situation is a direct result of lax approaches twenty years ago. Where was all this enforcement at the beginning? It seems rather silly to create hundreds of thousands of felons all at once when they haven’t been for two decades.

Easter came and went

2006-04-20T00:37:00.000-07:00

Last week was quite a bit of a blur for me. I had to train on the graveyard shift for the first half of my workweek. Then I had to work at 3 pm for the other half. My graveyards began on sunday.

If my life here in this city could reflect itself as I see it, then I would probably be attending some form of daily prayer and/or meditation and grabbing all the meaning I possibly could out of the church calendar. As it stands I find myself a vapor or apparition of that vision. The meaning that once gave me such vibrancy seems a little pale. My schedule makes it really difficult to have any contact like that on a regular basis. I have quite a few posts to add here. Mostly about the events that transpired around holy week. I have had quite a bit to think about as a result. I’ll add them soon.

It has been a little bit.

2006-03-25T20:34:00.000-08:00

So the story is the same. working. Yet it is also different. I have added on an extra ten hours working for my parents. Wendy and I are job-sharing a 20 hr a week job. it hopefuly will work out. In other news I am trying to get promoted into a newly created vacancy at the hotel. The supervisor at the front desk is leaving. This opens the position. The management has lowered the postion a little. I don't know what that means, but I can apply for it.

We will see. I find it interesting that I can now see my life in the hotel industry. Goodness.

I guess it is alright, but I still wonder about the whole setup. Someone decided that the hotel would be structured the way it is. Sometimes I wonder about it. I guess the whole structure works really well when we are talking about a 800+ room hotel. here at our "little" business and convention hotel of approx 400 rooms the structure breaks down.

I don't know. Maybe I just need a place to land for a little while. Unfortunately, the job I do keeps me from having to write coherent sentences. I type one word here and a phrase there, but nothing sustained.

I hope to change that in the near future. I am still swirling non-violence, simplicity, and spirituality around to see what glints in the pan. I hope to read Ghandi before easter. I wanted to take the lenten season and use it to read up on these subjects in hope that I could make some focused decision. I wanted it to look like I knew exactly what my decision was and could write about it for a good while. I read Yoders "politics of jesus" a few months ago. Now I am working through Bolle's "Enticement of Religion", and Stepaniak's "Vegan sourcebook". I have a pretty good idea of the simplicity side of it all.

Basically, I ran accross a copy of the "Plain Reader" at the library. This is a book of excerpts from "Plain Magazine". This is a magazine put on by luddites in Ohio. I read about how these people view their lives and what exactly they are trying to do. I found that one of the underlying sentiments is that technology itself is not shunned. Rather it is used as a tool and when there is a good way of accomplishing something, it is used. However, the rub comes in the idea of progress for its own sake and also in the idea of overcomplication. Why use a more complicated machine to complete the same job.

Our world grows increasingly complex. I find myself lost in the tide. I wonder, "who am I, a speck amongst billions? How do my actions matter?" It seems like riding my bike to work and back, eating lower on the trophic levels, and avoiding the mall during sales helps.

quote of my day from the internet

2006-03-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

geoff wrote on Friday December 03rd, 2004 05:08 PM

Your seitan recipe kicks my seitan recipe's butt.

A close second comes from yesterday

Praise seitan.

...because you all need to see this...

2006-03-06T12:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, the story begins on Saturday. I had a day off. Wendy wanted to take me to the movies. We happily go and see Transamerica. After the movie was over we were going to meet my parents and my sister. My sister has found a place to live and wants to strike out into the independence wilds. but not before mom and dad give her some furniture. I am called in to help move.

Now in the space between meeting them and the movie, Wendy and I hop on the bus and head for Nob Hill. This place is the hippest locale in Albuquerque. It is one street and about four blocks, but it holds all that is trendy in this city. The rest feels like suburban hell. Except the downtown, which is filled with bars.

I wanted to check out this store that carries nifty things like stemless wine glasses, chemex coffee makers (they look like an erlenmeyer flask) and cocktail shakers. I can only enter this store periodically because of the "out of your league" feeling I get sometimes. Anyway, we walk in and the clerk tells us that there is a clearance sale upstairs. After doing a bit of window shopping we go check out the sale and find a little treasure. The last time we were there we saw a set of espresso cups that we really liked. They were white with black geometric designs on them. They were on a large markdown. So we got them. Yay! I am now officially coffee insane. I have espresso cups.

Fast forward to saturday night and my family needs some post-dinner entertainment. We say, "come over, we have espresso cups." They come. I set up my little espresso pot to make some and break in the cups. This is the moment when things begin to go awry. There is a little metal filter that lets the liquid through but keeps the grounds out of the top section. I couldn't find it and sort of forgot about it. 15 minutes later a very nasty black goop is oozing out of the top pipe. The espresso is more like espressjunk. Alas.

The next day I go to work and afterward my family is still in town and we are going to have them over for dinner. Nice time. Well, I again ask if they want some coffee. I "know" what I did wrong last time and can fix the matter by adding the metal filter. They say sure. I set the pot on the flame once more. 15 minutes later the coffee is not where it should be. It is now oozing out the middle where the two parts connect. I did not install the metal screen correctly and the rubber gasket could not seal off the place where it screws together. Another failure. Alas.

This morning, I wake up and know I can get it right. I fix it. I double and triple check it. I make sure that I will have espresso this morning.

OK. Now here is an event that I have never seen before. I pass it on to you all mostly..well...because you all need to see this...

That is the infernal pot.

That is, as CSI people put it, "cast off" at a height well above 6 feet.

That is the floor. There are drops of coffee 9 and a half feet away from "ground zero".

I have made a big fucking mess and I don't even know how to explain this one. It even got into the pantry because the door was open.

well, I leave you to ponder this. I must be about my business of cleaning this up.

Alas.

Comments

2006-03-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

Apparently, until last night, my comments were set up to where I had to moderate them first. Well let me be the first to introduce to you Griboedov's v. a.1.r.333.000.00000.000.#.@ (the one where you can see comments and I will reply to them)!

Here is the story on that one. Last night, before pancakes Wendy asks me why I have not added her comments to my site. I look at her and say, "What comments?!?!?!" Then she tells me that I have to moderate them in order for them to appear on the blog. GOODNESS! So we go into the moderate comments section only to find little jewels from people letting me know that it is being read. Sorry that I couldn't give you all credit till now. Thanks for your comments. I do feel a little silly now. I was wondering what was going on with this blog. I feel about as silly as I did when I used to have an answering machine and it was Friday night. My mind went something like this, "why didn't anyone call yet? is my machine working? Yes. Did they call and I missed it? I don't want to miss their call. Ok I went out for a half hour, NO MESSAGES!!?!?!??!?! Oh no. they missed me. they called andarenowenjoyingthemselvesimmenslywithoutME!!!!!

Please excuse my paranoia.

this is a different kind of test. I want to know if it works. Say hello to Kona the cute guinea pig.
I could put my mug up here. maybe i will, but not yet. Someday.

I have a book and a coffee mug calling my name.

Ash Wednesday

2006-03-01T18:22:00.000-08:00

It is ash wednesday today. I am not going to be participating in the lenten fast this year.

so i will go eat the pancakes that those who are can't eat.

peace to you all.

Condensation on the windows

2006-02-11T07:55:00.000-08:00

I probably shouldn't be wishing for warm weather yet. This area needs snow badly, otherwise it will be another year of extreme fire conditions and water rationing. I am ready though. I like warm weather and the ability to walk outside and not be chilled. I laugh at myself though. When I was in Russia and the temperature hit30-40ish I was wearing a sweater and a vest. Look at me now all bundled up.

I might go with a friend on a bike ride of about 40ish miles. we will scout commuter routes from here to the tram. Supposedly there are a couple water diversion channels that have really good bike paths which will take us most of the way. Then we have to find our way through some residential areas. If all goes well we will be at the base of the tramway in about an hour and a half. maybe. oh and for those who have never been to the 'burque, the tram is the worlds longest (i think it still is) cable tramway. it starts at the base of the sandia mountain and goes up to the summit. There are restaurants on the top and bottom. Should any of you come to visit maybe we can go there and watch the sunset over the valley while going to the top. My friend works at the bottom restaurant.

maybe i will post later on the bike story...

a moment's repose

2006-02-06T15:30:00.000-08:00

For once, I returned home and felt like I had a moment. That moment is right now. I actually have a portion of the evening left before work calls me back in again. Thursday. I must last until then. Then I can have some days off. eleven days on straight with one day off before than and then a previous seven on straight. no wonder I feel like my head has been stuck in a trash can.

I say lord, raise me up, from the ground. I've been here too long.
-matisyahu

if you don't know who he is, check him on itunes. he is one of the better regae artists out there. and he is a hasidic jew. I still get giddy when someone breaks all my assumptions and expectations.

The other night, speaking of breaking one's expectations, a black cat came to our door. It was a beautiful-friendly cat. I actually wanted to bring it inside and let it stay. Who knew? I have never been crazy about cats, but haven't really hated them either. This one though was so sleek that it seemed to exude cute cat-ness. So if kona the now sole guinea pig didn't rule the roost, we might have brought it in. Maybe I understand a little better why people bring in strays.

A day off

2006-01-29T09:55:00.000-08:00

Well, the hotel decided to give me a day off. I used my last two days off to attend a cost-estimating seminar. I went in the hopes of getting a new job. Cost estimating is the process of creating an esttimate on construction projects. It seems tedious at times, because it requires me to ask the question, "and how much are linoleum tiles again?" Or, "what is the price of concrete doing again?" Then I look in this book that was compiled by engineers.

We will see what happens. All I know is that I am not suited very well to customer service.

I think it is about time to go and get pancakes. Join me if you wish. I'll be at Mannie's on Central and Girard. Look for the clean-shaven guy with red short hair. He might be wearing a light brown conductor's hat made out of hemp.

Happy New Year

2006-01-15T19:55:00.000-08:00

Today is my new year. For the last few years I have filled my need for time management tools by using a self-made day planner. I get a pocket notebook and fill out all the dates for the year. I use moleskine notebooks for this task. Today Wendy and I bought our books from Papers, a very nice store dedicated to paper. We then sat at Flying Star, a very nice cafe with a good freshly roasted bottomless house coffee, and filled them out. The whole process takes a couple of hours and at the end I have a book with all the dates for the upcoming year. So it is my new year in a matter of speaking.

I actually find the process enjoyable. As I write the days down I meditate upon the near future and what it will have in store. When I am working on August, I think about how it will still be hot and maybe we will have moved out of our current little apartment into something a little bigger and hopefully brighter. I also think back to past events. Where i was last march etc. I know that very easily I could have a calendar pre printed. Moleskine makes a 365day book. In this case I need a few things that are neither efficient or multifunctional. I need to say "no" every now and then.

so happy new year.

After walking home from work

2006-01-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

12:30am

Ani DiFranco: Manhole

Just got off work at the Hyatt. I work the front desk. “thank you for staying with us, enjoy your evening”. “I’m sorry, we don’t validate the parking, the city owns all the downtown garages.”

but that is not exactly what this is about.

In October, Wendy and I sold our car. It was slowly falling apart and keeping it running seemed like a bigger chore than was worthwhile. Plus we were facing all the insurance, gas, and a lengthy new mexico registration process. Things are a bit stringent in Albuquerque in relation to the rest of the state (and johnson city). We called a place, got paid, and were done. Now our insurance payment is very small and covers our very small apartment.

I doubt I would have driven home from work tonight even if I had the car. I am too cheap to pay the sixty dollars a month in parking fees. So anyway without a car i have three choices, public transport, bike and walk.

tonight I walked. 40 minutes on average to get from the hotel to my apartment. in a pinch I can get it down to 35, but that leaves me winded at the end. The buses quit around ten on weekdays. The weekends are worse. Sunday they quit at six and that is for one of the major vein routes in the city. I bussed down and walked back.

So how have I fared? Rather well I would say.

In mid-december I walked by the gas station at Central and Columbia and realized that until now I hadn’t looked at the gas prices since selling our car.

Since we live a few blocks from central we are fortunate to have two major bus routes passing nearby. it makes our transportation feasible. I can get to work. Although I have plenty of issues with the bus as it exists right now. Firstly, it does not seem to be equipped to encourage new ridership. Plenty of routes in this city operate on a half hour schedule and crossing the city seems laborious. Also, there are times when I can’t see how standing at the bus stop is any faster than walking (given the waiting combined with the transit).

The bus is my second choice for things.

So what is my first?

my bicycle. Hands down.

I can get down to the hotel in 15 minutes when the lights work in my favor. I can get to work almost as fast as a car. In order for that to work though one has to assume that the car must be parked in a garage a few blocks away and the occupant must then walk to work. I on the other hand have the advantage of parking my bicycle in the employee entrance.

There are disadvantages. The pet store is a huge one. It sits one major street over and a couple east from us. An easy path does not exist. Our guinea pigs require that we make this trip twice a month. We can take the bus, but it requires two lines. I can ride there easily, but my bike lacks baskets at the moment. So lugging bedding and food home in large quantities becomes awkward. Picture a big guy on a bicycle and then add on a couple compressed cubic feet of aspen shavings. I picture myself rather wonky looking and frenetic (I never admitted to bicycle grace).

Also, getting out of dodge is much more difficult. And most of you know how much I like doing that.

Actually, two of the most interesting experiences I have had since this whole change toward car-less are:

First that on a bicycle I can actually feel the energy required to keep myself going forward. This leads me to get up to speed and keep on going . After two weeks of commuting back and forth to work I developed a great distaste for street lights. I have 13 stoplights on the path. They are timed for cars and I cannot help but hit certain ones. In fact, I now know that, for example, if I get stopped at the Lead and Yale intersection (I usually do) then I have to ride quickly in order to make it through the light at University. When this happens I usually end up with 5 seconds till the light changes (some of this city’s pedestrian signs have a countdown timer). Anyway, every time I get going nicely I am brought to another light which requires me to stop. I know it is a simple physics lesson, but it is really hard to get back to that point where I am only working on maintaining my speed. I never knew how it was in the car because I didn’t power the car myself. So now I really dislike stoplights because they keep me from moving.

Secondly, I now have four ways of observing my location. Each one offers very different perspectives. I notice completely different things when I walk, bike, ride the bus, and sit in a car. Each one offers something the others don’t. Each defines time and distance differently. But in a way, it is like leafing through a book. It seems hard to explain, but I look at buildings differently.

I think that is about it for now.

My new names

2006-01-12T19:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this blog was set up for me. Now it is time to settle in a bit. And since I haven't known exactly where to begin maybe it is best to begin at the titles. Firstly, apartment-50. I have had it in my mind for a long time that if by some fortune I ended up running some sort of bookstore/coffeehouse/magazine stand. I would give it some nice obscure literary name. Well lately I have been convincing myself that the whole bookstore profession is one that isn't necessarily for me. who knows. So in the meantime I still want to name something. Here we are at last.

APARTMENT 50!

I can see the wooden sign swinging out above the door and everything.

This dwelling is one of the locations in Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita. As I read this book I was quite taken with it. The back cover description reads “One spring afternoon the Devil, trailing fire and chaos in his wake, weaves himself out of the shadows and into Moscow in Bulgakov’s fantastical, funny and frightening satire of Soviet life. Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin’s reign, when it was finally published it b became an overnight literary phenomenon signaling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere.”

Now my description. Firstly, the visitor is Satan and not the devil. This is an important distinction because on the other side of the story is Yeshua who is not Jesus. They have their own very particular qualities which are quite different from ones attributed to each by contemporary Christianity. Secondly, alongside the account of Satan (his actual character’s name in the story is Woland) in Moscow is one regarding Jesus’ crucifixion. So this is a story that not only satires the soviets but it also offers a reworking of the gospel narrative. Bulgakov was the son of a priest and went to seminary for awhile. He then dropped out and became a playwright among other things. So I find this to be a wonderful story.

The apartment is a place where some vital action takes place.

Griboedov’s is a restaurant in the story. It is one place where Woland’s band of character’s (one of them is a gigantic talking cat) have quite a bit of fun with the mortals.

so read the story if you like. It is rich, vivid, macabre, and well, I found it enjoyable. Others who read it with me during my semester in Russia were a bit unsettled. It struck me as a well crafted tale.

So here’s to Mikhail..

29.12.2005

2005-12-29T20:11:00.000-08:00

Today, this afternoon, the internet has finally entered this apartment. Liberation from other terminals has finally been achieved. so maybe I can now earnestly begin this.

yes, this is my new blog

2005-11-30T18:21:00.000-08:00

So I am joining the ranks of those who place thoughts on the either. Fair enough. Thanks m. douty. Without your help I would not be where I am today.

Alright folks. Cheers till I think of something.

Adam's New Blog!

2005-11-22T19:53:00.000-08:00

Hi, this is Mike again. But this is Adam's blog which I just created for him. So ya better post big guy!