Snow - really

Yesterday I posted about the tiny bit of snow we'd gotten.  Mother Nature laughed and dumped about one inch of snow on us.  I think it fell sometime after 5:00 AM because the newspaper had snow on top and bare ground underneath.

It looks like the local 'critters' were out and about in spite of the snow.  There were some bunny prints but they must have been out and about while it was still snowing because their prints had been partially obscured.  On the other hands, the local bird population obviously waited until the snow had stopped.

The snow looked rather picturesque caught in the needles of the pine tree in the front yard.

I do love digital photography.  Instant gratification and all that.

Papillon

Snow - sort of

Today is the first day of this season that I got snow at my (current) house.  Granted it was about 1/64 of an inch and most of it melted when it hit the ground.

Here's a small amount sitting on my car.

I also drove through some brief snow showers during the late morning. 

The whooping and hollering you hear is from all the area skiers.  Taos got 18 inches.  Skis are being waxed even as you read this.

My new house is coming along.  The paint is complete.  The laminate floor is almost down.  I was hoping it would be finished yesterday but no luck there.  It now looks like it'll get done on Tuesday. 

I'm going to have it deep cleaned by the local Molly Maid folks.  So far, it looks like I'll be spending the Thanksgiving weekend moving the small stuff.  It'll help work off the calories from Thanksgiving day!

Papillon

Weird commute, pretty color

There was a major accident on westbound I-40 during yesterday's evening commute.  Because of that, lots of people bailed off onto surface roads.  Which means my normal route home was CONGESTED and it took LOTS longer to get home.

While sitting in slow moving traffic, I took this picture of some of the autumn's color.

And a bit later, this one.

Gotta love those colors.

Papillon

New house - decisions, decisions

I've lived in my current house since 1992.  It's a small house on a large lot.  When I bought it, I contemplated doing lots of DIY on an admitted fixer-upper.

Over the years, I've discovered that I thoroughly dislike doing DIY.  I'd much rather pay someone to do the work for me.  I've also discovered that I have WAY, WAY, WAY more yard than I will ever utilize. 

In May of this year, I decided I wanted to reverse my situation with a bigger (not HUGE) house on a significantly smaller lot.  I called the realtor (Patricia) that I'd used to buy my current house.  She was a real sport and took me around to see a ton of houses.  There were a couple of houses that came close, but had factors that made me turn them down.  One backed up to commercial real estate space that hasn't been developed yet.  I decided I didn't want to buy the house only to have a McDonalds put in at a later date.

Finally, in late August I found a nice house that is spacious but is not a McMansion (keeping the McDonalds theme going).  It's on a much smaller lot, although I do have a 3-hole putting green in the backyard.

Now that I've closed, I've got lots of things to get done.  Utilities are on and in my name.  I do have to call a plumber.  When the gas company tech tried to start the water heater, the pilot light igniter didn't (ignite the pilot).  The tech said it's probably a problem with the wires and I'll probably need to have that small unit replaced.  No hurry so waiting for a Friday off to call the plumber.

One of the nice things is - I don't have to HURRY.  My current house is paid off and so I don't have to move NOW.  That said, I've decided to redo the flooring and paint before moving.  Much easier to do with an empty house.

I've called and met with folks to get estimates to me.  Waiting to get all the results back.  I plan on removing the wall-to-wall carpet (which I loathe) and put in laminate instead (much easier to clean up pet messes on laminate).  I spent some time at Lowe's yesterday and really like something called 'Galveston Oak' - brown with lots of blonde notes.

As to paint, I had been thinking a nice green (not emerald, more subdued).  Then I thought I might do a nice neutral brown.  The problem there happened when I noticed all the browns that I liked had a distinct pink undertone.  That could get really 'precious' very quickly.  Instead, I'm back to green.  It looked really good up against the 'Galveston Oak' (the brown looked blah).  I'm leaning toward 'Pale Pasture' - color for the walls but not TOO much.

It's the one on the left.

It'll be nice to get this all done so I can start moving stuff over.

Papillon

NM State Fair

It certainly has been quite some time since I last posted.

In that time, we've gotten rain, rain and .... even more rain.  From what I've heard, this has been the rainiest September - either ever or for a very long time.  Parts of NM have been flooded and we've not heard those words for several years.  Some folks say the state is still in a drought, but it's hard to think that when I know parts of the Albuquerque metro area have gotten multiple inches of rain in a day.

A friend went to the NM State Fair last weekend.  She got rained on.

I went today and the weather was lovely.  It was warm but not hot and was quite pleasant.
Here's a photo I took of the main intersection of the fair.  Today there were firefighters answering questions and showing off their equipment.  They had put three ladders trucks in place and were displaying some garrison-sized flags.

I don't do the Midway.  I hate riding things that make me want to throw up, so I don't.

I did check out the exhibits in the arts and crafts area.  It's too bad that I've been in such a creative drought for the past couple of years.  There was TONS of cross-stitch and not much I could see in the way of needlepoint.  I probably could have cleaned up if I'd had something current to enter.  I may have to get myself in gear.

I used to like going through the exhibits in the Lujan building.  For some reason, not so much today.  If I could, I think it's because there aren't any of the weird and/or funky exhibits.  There used to be a booth that would 'analyze' your handwriting.  Not here this year.  There was another booth that carried all manner of scissors and tweezers and other implements.  Again, not here this year.  There were a whole bunch of really slick booths with all sorts of over-eager staffers who didn't hesitate to leap out at you as you walked by.  Not nearly as much fun.

I did stop by a booth that makes all manner of funky pasta.  I bought some flavored with Hatch green chile and another with Thai citrus flavoring.  It should be yummy to eat.  I also made my usual stop at the Watkins booth to get my dip flavorings.  I love their stuff since they don't use a TON of salt.  There are a couple of booths that sold dips, but in the past I find I can't eat more than a couple of bites without being overwhelmed with a salty flavor.

Papillon

Rain today

This morning I woke up to rainy-looking clouds.  No rain.

During the day, we went from mostly cloudy to mostly sunny.

Then, this evening more clouds rolled in and we actually had a couple of brisk showers roll through.  Hooray!

We not only got rain but a double rainbow.  The top one is rather faint and is kinda hard to see.  But it's there.

Papillon

Titanic Exhibit

The New Mexico Museum of Natural History (here in Albuquerque) is currently running an exhibit on the Titanic.  (It runs until the end of October for those who are interested.)

I went through it today and found it to be interesting and informative.  Example:  the Titanic had been designed to remain afloat if up to 4 of its water-tight compartments were flooded.  However, the iceberg punctured 6 compartments and the Titanic was doomed.

Part of the exhibit is the facsimile boarding pass you get when you approach the ticket taker.

This is based on the actual boarding pass that passengers received.

On the back of each pass is information concerning one of the actual passengers who was on the ill-fated voyage.

So that you don't have to squint, my passenger was Mrs. Edgar Joseph Meyer (nee Leila Saks).  She was 25 and lived in New York, New York.  She was a first class passenger.  She and her husband were returning from Europe to attend the funeral of her father, Andrew Saks.  (Andrew Saks was the founder of Saks department store.)

At the end of the exhibit, there is a board which tells you the fate of the passenger on your boarding pass.  I'm happy to report that Leila Saks Meyer did survive.  Sadly, her husband did not.  (They had a two-year-old daughter who had stayed at home.)

Leila Saks Meyer was not the only survivor to experience a double tragedy (the death of first her father and then her husband).

I recently read a book, Rich Men, Poor Men, by Phyllis Ryerse.  It concerns the family of Arthur L. Ryserson (a distant relative of the author).  Arthur Ryerson and family were touring through Europe when they were informed that their college-age son had died in a traffic accident. 

At the time, there was a coal miners' strike in England.  A large number of ocean liners (which used coal for fuel) were sidelined and the Titanic was the first available way for the Ryersons to get home for the funeral. 

Also on board was William Ryerson - a VERY DISTANT cousin of Arthur Ryerson.  Arthur Ryerson was very wealthy (his steel mill is still in operation).  William Ryerson was NOT so very rich and was a worker on the Titanic. 

Arthur Ryerson did not survive.  His wife and 3 of their children did survive (in addition to the son who died in the traffic accident, they had a daughter who'd remained behind in the USA).  So, Emily Ryerson had to deal with the death of first, her son, and then her husband.  (Their governess, Grace Bowen, and Emily's maid, Victorine Chaudanson, also survived.)

William Ryerson did survive.  He happened to be standing near one of the lifeboats.  He was asked if he could row.  He said yes, and was put into the boat.

A different book, Titanic Survivor, is a memoir by Violet Jessup (the survivors' list has her as Violet Jessop).  She was a stewardess (like a maid) on Titanic.  She not only survived the Titanic sinking, she also survived the WWI sinking of Titanic's sister ship, Britannic.  I'm not sure, but I think she also worked on the third sister ship, Olympic.  (Olympic did NOT sink, but was eventually decommissioned and broken up for scrap.)

I found all their names on the lists.  It was so sad to see all the names of those who didn't survive.

Papillon