Lovely weather - and then not so much

The day started out clear and nice.  Not surprisingly, there were balloons up early.  This one hovered over the park out back and then hit the burner, lifted off and headed north.

The first three photos were taken from my back patio (facing south).  The last photo was taken after I walked through the house and out the front door (facing north).

The weather forecast said that clouds would move in and the wind would pick up later in the day.  I went to brunch around noon.  There were clouds building on the western horizon - big, fleecy, white clouds.  When I walked out after lunch (about an hour later), imagine my surprise to see big, BLACK clouds much closer than the western horizon.

I headed west to check on my 'old' house that's for sale.  Keep in mind, on the west side of the ABQ metro area, there's a whole lotta open space.  As I'm driving along, the wind SUDDENLY really kicked up and put a whole lotta dust in the air.  At one point, I could barely see the car in front of me (about 6 car lengths away).  All I could see was their tail lights.  Fortunately, I was able to drive through the dust cloud and clearer air.  When I got to my 'for sale' house, you could feel that the temperature had dropped several degrees. 

Needless to say, I did a quick check of the house and headed back to my 'new' house.  I got back and prepared for some really nasty weather coming in.  Only to have it all peter out.  A few sprinkles, a few more wind gusts and then, nada.  Oh, well.  The rain would have been nice, but I'm glad it didn't turn out anything like it initially threatened.

Papillon

Voting

As you can see, I participated in early voting which started today.  There was a regular influx of people at the City Hall in spite of the fact that it's Saturday. 

Now I have to endure political ads for the next couple of weeks, knowing that nothing they say will have any effect on my vote.  Sigh.  I'm not fond of political ads at the best of times, but it's even more annoying now.  Especially the robo-calls to my home phone, more so since I seem to remember from a number of years ago that robo-calls are illegal in NM.  However, nobody pays much attention to that.

I find that, over the years, I've turned into something of a "yellow dog" Democrat.  For those unfamiliar with the term - it comes down to - if there's a political race between a Republican and an actual yellow-colored dog (probably of uncertain ancestry) running as a Democrat, I'm very likely to vote for the yellow-colored dog.

That said, I did vote for a couple of Republicans on the ticket, one of them being the Sandoval County sheriff.  He took over after the previous sheriff (a Democrat) apparently 'lost his mind'.  Not clinically so.  Or completely certifiable.  But close to the end of his second term in office, there were three or four incidents which did not put him in the most favorable light.  He explained that he was acting in his official capacity as sheriff, but everyone just kinda rolled their eyes and looked away.  The current sheriff (Republican) has done a proficient job and since the Democrat was an unknown quantity, I decided to vote for the 'devil I know'.  (So to speak.)

I can't say I'm 100% satisfied with some of the Democrats that I voted for.  However, in a number of cases, I was even less satisfied with their Republican opponents.

So, I've done my civic duty and will endure the remaining couple of weeks with as little whining as possible.

Papillon

Balloons Overhead

I was awakened this morning by the whooshing of propane tanks firing as balloons floated overhead.  I suspect they most likely didn't launch from the Balloon Fiesta field but more likely from some open space on the west side of Albuquerque.

It was lovely weather this morning.  However, I'm suspecting the evening Glowdeo may be cancelled.  Some nasty looking clouds are moving in from the west and I think I'm hearing intermittent thunder.

Papillon

Rainy Days

Yesterday and today, we've had cooler temperatures and sporadic showers.  Bad for Balloon Fiesta, good for the countryside.

Driving home from work yesterday afternoon, I spotted a lovely rainbow.

I did get some fun news further along on the way home.  I decided to fill up the car.  Imagine my pleasant surprise to see the price per gallon was $2.99.  It's the first time in I-don't-know-how-long that the price of gas has been below $3.00.  Granted, it's only a tiny bit below, but it's still a good thing. 

Papillon

Over the Back Fence

Balloon Fiesta is underway.  It started this past weekend (10/3) but I've become rather jaded after 20+ years so haven't really made much of an effort to track the balloons.

However, it's not hard to enjoy things when a balloon comes to me.

Granted, he didn't do any real 'flying' since he remained tethered to the ground.  You'll also notice it doesn't have a traditional gondola (passenger basket) underneath.  It was one man sitting in a chair-type device.

Here's another view as he fires up the propane.

What fun!  Nothing like my own 'personal' Glowdeo!  The neighborhood kids certainly enjoyed it.

I may have to do some balloon stalking next weekend.

Papillon

A night at the ballpark

Last night was a company event at the Albuquerque Isotopes.  For the unfamiliar, Albuquerque has long had a farm club for the LA Dodgers (with a short hiatus when they were the farm club for the Seattle Mariners).  Originally, our local team was the Albuquerque Dukes, named after the Duke of Alburquerque who held the original land grant.  (Yes, the Duke's version is the correct spelling of Alburquerque.  The current correct spelling of the city of Albuquerque is, in fact, incorrect.)

I don't remember the dates, but Albuquerque was without a baseball team for a number of years after I moved here when the team was sold to (I think) Portland. 

Then efforts were made to get another team in town.  When those efforts were successful, the new owners needed a new name since the name 'Dukes' went to the Northwest location.  The TV show, The Simpsons, had run a storyline where the fictional Springfield is worried that their minor league team, the Isotopes, is going to be sold to Albuquerque.  So our team has been called the Isotopes since, life imitating art.  They even put up some life-sized statues of the Simpson family (with permission of the show, of course).

July was the fourth wettest July on record.  This made it worrisome that the game would be rained out, especially because the morning looked really threatening.  Very dark clouds loomed over the Sandia mountains.  However, they cleared off as the day went on.  There were a few clouds in the area during the game, but nothing remotely like a rain cloud.

Here's one of the Isotopes batting at last night's game.

The weather was nicer than in years past.  The past few times I've gone to one of these annual events, the temperatures have been really warm, 90 degrees and thereabouts.

Last night started out at 81 degrees.  The temperature slowly dropped as the night/game went on and a stiff breeze popped up.

By the end of the eighth inning, the temperature and breeze made me wish I'd brought a lightweight jacket.  It was 71 degrees at 9 PM.  The 'Topes were also down - the Tacoma Rainiers won by a score of 5-2.  I suppose I could have stayed on to the end, but I headed on home. 

It was a nice enough evening. 

Papillon

Getting Caught Up

Last Sunday (6/29) I went to an all-day seminar put on by Mike Dooley.  I've long gotten his upbeat emails from The Universe.  He is a proponent of 'Thoughts Become Things'.  I had a good time and am glad I signed up for it.  Here's a picture of me with Mike.

I spent a quiet Fourth of July.  This woke me up Friday morning.  I don't recall seeing this shape of balloon years ago.  They seem to have become more popular since I've seen at least 3 different balloons of this shape in just the last month.

I'm not a big fan of going to one of the live Fourth of July events.  I did that many years ago and now prefer to watch the shows on TV from the comfort of my air-conditioned living room.  Sipping an adult beverage/libation. 

It turns out my neighborhood likes fireworks as much as they do Xmas decorations in December.  Neighbors a couple of doors down on either side had lots of fun.  Here're the folks on my west side.

 

Today I went shopping for more furniture.  I found a nice nightstand plus a couple of end tables for the living room.  It'll be fun to put them in place once they are delivered.

Papillon