27 January 2011

Destroy My Bridge!

If you have BridgeBasher installed, follow this link to view the bridge:
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Sent from my iPod

Gathering Data--Rail Runner, Gym Trips

I am a gatherer of data. I love reading about data trends and I love looking at graphs and maps. This is probably why one of my favorite websites is weather.gov. There is so much data on that site that I can look at. For example, right now I'm wondering what the lowest every temperature reached in Des Moines, IA is and then I'll compare it to Santa Fe, NM and Albuquerque, NM. The lowest ever reached temp in Des Moines was -30°F in 1884. The lowest in Santa Fe was -27°F in 1971 and -17°F in 1971 in ABQ. Most people think this is dumb and useless, I think it's totally fascinating.

I'm now gathering data on our gym trips. Lindsey, Joe and I have been visiting our local community center gym this month. I feel so much better about myself when I work out. I feel like I've accomplished one of my goals. My mind feels clear, my lungs feel good, I think I can even feel my blood improve. It's weird, but I my entire body feels better. I enjoy most gathering the data from my workouts and listening to music. It's not very often that I get to dedicate a time of my day to just really listen to music. I listen to how the album is recorded. Sometimes I make up my own music videos. Sometimes I just see colors moving. I can see the drummer playing. I can see the noise. So running is one of my favorite things to do. I'm using this app called Run Keeper to record all of my data. I'm also writing data on my iPod's notepad. My stats are probably terrible right now, I've been out of it for the past few years but I'm hoping to graph an improvement in February and March. 

On a completely different topic: there was a report released on how wasteful NM government is with our tax dollars. The biggest target was of course the Rail Runner. The report showed where money is going, how much it is costing and how much the train is making in ticket sales. I haven't researched this as much as I would like, but I was thinking that there is more data that you can look at. You have to keep in mind all data, not just how much it costs to lay track and how much ticket sales are bringing in. You don't see the entire picture. You have to look at census data. How much is Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Bernalillo, Los Lunas, Belen projected to grow in the next ten to twenty years. How many of those people are likely to ride the train. Would a big factory that would provide thousands of jobs be more likely to placed in our area if there was a commuter train connecting communities? I don't know, but I think that would be a factor. The connecting of our communities couldn't be a bad thing for the local economies of the cities it goes through either. What about the cost of repairs for roads that will not have to be made because of less traffic? Does that count toward what the Rail Runner cost? What about the reduced number of traffic accidents and traffic deaths on I-25 that happen because of the reduced amount of traffic? I know that the Rail Runner has killed a few people that have tried to cross the tracks, that's really sad that those people died, but I don't think it's the train's fault. I don't know, I really like the Rail Runner and I'm happy to see there have been four million (4,000,000) riders since the train began. In New Mexico history the rail has never been a bad thing. People movers in Earth history has never been bad. The more people you move the more prosperous your economy will be. I would love to see the Rail Runner prove itself within these next 10 - 20 years. I believe nothing but good can come of this train. 

24 January 2011

Monday Thoughts

Monday, January 24, Twenty-Eleven, Anno Domini. This month seems to be going by really fast. It probably feels this way because I spent the first week in Florida. When I go on vacation it seems like there's a lot of things in my life that are thrown off. 

I would sometimes measure my happiness on how many things I can accomplish. Lindsey and I have made it a point to head to the gym and work out for a little while. We've actually been doing it and in a LEED certified city gym. I would like to see more live music...I have not been able to do this. Negative point toward happiness. I vacuumed our house carpet yesterday--positive point toward happiness. I have not been able to take Lindsey out on a date in a while--negative point toward happiness. I have not been able to go snowboarding this winter--negative point toward happiness. I'm heading up to the Mora wilderness this weekend and spending time in a cabin with Lindsey, Joe, Ryan and Stephanie--big positive points toward happiness.

For a while I didn't really care about football. I thought it was only a way for a select few to get rich, and we as Americans are being exploited. That may still be true, but it's part of our culture. It's something I can call my dad and be excited about. If it helps bond families then I'm all for it. Sarah Palin, American Idol, NASCAR, country music, and Jersey Shore are also parts of our culture. I refuse to take part of that. 

Poor folks in Chicago... Their Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908. I hope that they can win in our lifetime.

These are my random beginning-of-the-week thoughts. 

I would like to appreciate things more that we have forgotten about. I'm going to start using my typewriter again. I want to send letters via USPS. I want to get a turn-table and play some records. This would be a positive point toward happiness. I want to make more trips to antique stores. Lindsey and I both absolutely love vintage photos. Lindsey makes some amazing art pieces with these photos. 

Have I been a poor friend? I feel like many of my friends don't contact me anymore. Maybe I'm too busy being in love with Lindsey. Don't hold it against me. 

Here are some photos of things involving New Mexico and Oregon.  



20 January 2011

Poetry

He laid emeralds in her eyes,
but I'd already tried a braclet made of gold
and a scarlet thread around her wrist.
And everything was wrong so we sang sentimental songs.
Oh, how seldom we belong, but how elegant our kiss. and we painted crooked lines but we danced in perfect time to a love so much refined, we know not what it is. so like the dullen wine we poor into a grief we'd known before, but never quite like this.
all i know now is regret. she follows like a silhouette of a cobblestone behind me. she has nothing left to say except to innocently ask, her voice delicate as glass. do you see me when we pass?
but i continue on my way.

From Norma Jean

15 January 2011

Blog Word Cloud

Word Cloud

Petroglyph National Monument.





In just a few minutes, Lindsey, Joe, Erin and I are heading to Petroglyph National Monument. I am really excited to get on a hike and see the west-side volcanoes and some great views of the Sandia Mountains. I have really been taking my city for granted. We have some of the most awesome natural surroundings in Albuquerque. For the most part, Albuquerque and New Mexico is arid, but then you travel just 10 to 15 miles east and you have the Sandia Mountains that are covered in dense forest. It's not an Oregon or Washington forest by no means, but a forest none-the-less. There are tall pines and meadows with gorgeous flowers. The New Mexico landscape is really diverse. Much of the landscape is covered with short juniper bush and desert grasses, but then other parts are covered in lush forests. If I could take a guess, then I would say that our forests cover an area of maybe the size of the states of Vermont and New Hampshire. I can find out. New Mexico has 16.68 million acres of forest land according to http://www.statemaster.com/state/NM-new-mexico/geo-geography. Vermont and New Hampshire's combined total acreage is (5.919 million from VT + 5.74 million acres from NH) =11.659 million acres. So, New Mexico's total forested area is more than the combined acreage of New Hampshire and Vermont.

02 January 2011

New Set Up

Lindsey and I are spending our Sunday rearranging things in our apartment. We decided that we liked the strand of Christmas lights in the kitchen, so we put up some Christmas lights in our living room too. I think at night it will make our living room warm.

The rearrangement has also allowed me to connect my Ubuntu computer directly to my modem. I'm no longer using the blasted wireless card. I effing hate wireless connections sometimes. They are okay for my iPod, not okay for Ubuntu. Soon I will have 3 TB of storage so I can make room to install the newest release of Ubuntu. Until then, I will suffer.