Category: Happening In The Desert

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Cat And Person Survive Lost Over 3 Weeks In New Mexico Forest

Apparently I am not the only one who has considered taking their cat camping with them.

Temperatures dropped below freezing almost every night, but somehow, some way, Margaret Page and her cat survived 3½ weeks in an isolated and rugged region of a southwestern New Mexico national forest.

Tucked away in a blue sleeping bag for warmth and set up near a creek for drinking water, Page and her cat named Miya lived on just a handful of supplies, rescue workers said Friday. The nearest town – tiny Dusty, N.M. – was 10 miles away.

Authorities said the 41-year-old Page, who has a history of mental illness, was found Wednesday emaciated and malnourished but well-hydrated.

“Her cat was in better shape than she was,” New Mexico State Police Search and Rescue incident commander Marc Levesque said. “Her cat was also hunting. (Page) ran out of food a while back.”

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Animals dumped in Rio Rancho

A KOAT article “Animals Run Wild In Rio Rancho, Retired Officer Says” says that stray animals from the rest of Sandvoal County are being dumped in Rio Rancho.

“They’re either being brought by the citizens, who are dumping them in Rio Rancho, or they’re wandering in, and that’s just a burden in Rio Rancho,” he said.
Sandoval County leaders said the only animal control officer was transferred after he was involved in a criminal incident that was still under investigation.
Sheriff’s deputies were expected to continue to respond to certain animal control calls. Because they cannot transport animals, county leaders asked residents to take stray animals to local shelters to help with the problem.

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The Village At Rio Rancho Will Be Here Some Day

The Village At Rio Rancho, a Albuquerque Uptown style outdoor shopping center, is still coming soon. According to the Rio Rancho Observer the city planning and zoning was to approve the plan on January 24th (and they did) which would allow the developer to start work on the Cinemark movie theater.

Building a new movie theater so close to the recently built Premiere Cinemas is a mistake according to me. I’m more interested in having the rest of the complex built where I predict there will be an Apple Store.

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Someone Stole Gas From My Truck In My Driveway

tire tracks from gas theifs

There’s no better way to feel violated than to have someone steal something of yours from your own home. Even if it’s a few gallons of gas.

This morning I walked out to my truck to when leaving for work and saw my gas door and cap off of my truck. My first thought was “that’s not suppose to be like that”. Then I started to realize that someone stole the gas and I started to panic a little while I wondered what else they did, did they try to break into my house too?

The snow we had the night before was a big help since they left tire and foot tracks all over and it was easy to determine exactly where they had been. Thankfully all they did was take gas and they didn’t take much as a gas can only holds a few gallons of gas. They even left marks in the snow from the hose and the gas can.

hose and gas can marks left from gas theifs

It was suggested on Twitter that I check if they drilled my tank, which happened a few months ago in Rio Rancho. Thankfully they did not drill a hole in my tank.

Finally, I used the Rio Rancho Police Department’s online crime reporting form and left for work. In case the perpetrators are reading this, I have made some security related updates in case of a next time.

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Some Company To Build Fake City In New Mexico

Some Company I never heard of is going to build a fake city somewhere in the Albuquerque Metro area. the 20 square mile city will be used to… test technologies? Why they can’t do the same thing is a real city is beyond my understand of the press release.

Pegasus Global Holdings, an international technology development firm, is announcing plans to develop The Center for Innovation, Testing and Evaluation (The Center), a first of its scale and scope fully integrated testing and evaluation facility for new and emerging technologies. With offices in Washington, DC; Reston, Virginia; and London, UK, Pegasus Global plans to locate the privately owned, commercially operated facility in the State of New Mexico
The Center will resemble a mid-sized American city, including urban canyons, suburban neighborhoods, rural communities and distant localities. It will offer the only of its kind opportunity to replicate the real-world challenges of upgrading existing city infrastructure to that of a 21st Century smart city, operating within a green economy.

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Serious Eats Reviews Blake's Lottaburger

From Serious Eat’s A Hamburger Today review of Blake’s Lottaburger.

But the green chiles are the real draw, of course. Each chile chunk was warm and juicily popped open, hot and sturdy, under the teeth. And whereas many fast-food chains tone down their “spicy” creations for a mass market, these were the spiciest thing I’ve ever tasted on a fast food burger. Without the green chile, the burger is still better than McDonald’s and Burger King, but the green chili really makes it a star. The Green Chile Lotaburger comes with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and mustard. None of the other toppings are spectacular, not that it matters much since you can barely anything beyond the green chile.

I’ve lived in New Mexico for 15 years and I have yet to eat at Blakes. I probably wouldn’t like the spicy green chile anyway.

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The Centipede That Crawled Throughout The Door Frame

Centipede that crawled through the door frame today

Last week I changed the water on the aquarium. I used the spigot in the front of the house with the Python venturi pump, which caused all the water to dump right near the front door. About 15 minutes later Saturn the cat was the front door, trying to climb to the top. I went to investigate and a few seconds later centipede came through the door frame.

This is the first time I have seen a centipede at the house and the first time I have seen a Scolopendra Hereos at all. At about 3 inches long, it’s half the length of the centipede I previously posted about in Austin, Texas. The one I captured looked exactly the same, until I killed it with alcohol and it lost some of it’s color.

I would rather have scorpions than these things any day.

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People In Arizona Offended By Middle Eastern Dust Storm Words?

2011 - 07 - 18 - dust storm

According to the NYTimes, some people in Arizona are offended by the term “Haboob” when referring to dust storms. I don’t know if the short NYTimes article is being sensationalist or if there are more than a few people cited in the article that are actually offended.

Not everyone was put out by the use of the term. David Wilson of Goodyear, Ariz., said those who wanted to avoid Arabic terms should steer clear of algebra, zero, pajamas and khaki, as well. “Let’s not become so ‘xenophobic’ that we forget to remember that we are citizens of the world, nor fail to recognize the contributions of all cultures to the richness of our language,” he wrote.

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Living In A Tourist Town

Wendy Tremayne writes “Flat Tires in the Desert – The Thing About Tourists & Locals” about being a celebrity in a tourist town.

For five years people have bobbed their heads over our fence, climbed it to look in, and waited at our gate to ask for a tour. We’ve had to sneak in our back ally to avoid what at times is a flood of tourists. We skip getting our mail afraid of who may be waiting outside the gate.

We finally got the locals and store owners to stop telling tourists that they have to check out Wendy & Mikeys place. No they don’t. We have nothing to sell. We did not make a life decision to work in tourism.

What kind of people go to someone’s private residence and request a tour?