Monthly Archives: November 2009

My Last Car Rental: 2009 Ford Mustang

During my last three days in Arizona for work I rented a a 2009 Ford Mustang from Hertz. It wasn’t my choice, it’s what they gave me and while not quite as exotic as the Corvette it’s probably much more common.

It didn’t have the GT badge but it did seem to have the 4.6 Liter V8 and other GT like features . I didn’t look under the hood but I drove it in perfectly legal ways and certainly seemed like it had more than a V6.

I really enjoyed driving this car. I was really impressed with how well Ford integrated some of the retro elements of the car while keeping it like a modern automobile. It handled well, It as comfortable to drive, I fit in it and could extend my legs, I could see out if it well and it had power. Ford states it can get about 25 MPG highway and the computer on the car showed 25 MPG from whoever drove it last (don’t know if it was highway or city).

I’m not alone in my assessment. Consumer Reports gives the Mustang high marks in their test. They liked it better than the Camero and the Challenger.

The Mustang received a Very Good overall road test score of 78, outpointing the Camaro which received a Very Good 71, and the Challenger, which received a Good 53 points. CR’s engineers found the Mustang’s 2010 freshening makes it an even more balanced and satisfying driver’s car than ever before.

“The Mustang topped this group by delivering strong acceleration, communicative steering, and the most agile handling,” said David Champion, senior director of CR’s Auto Test Center in East Haddam, Connecticut.

Since driving the 2009 Mustang I have decided that I am going to buy one. Mostly likely a 2010 model due to some significant improvements (really I want the sequential turn signals). Now, all I need is the money.

Where Are The Best Hikes In New Mexico?

Howard sent me a message and wanted to know where are the best hikes in New Mexico. I’ve been on plenty of hikes in NM but I’m terrible at remembering where they are. A few of my favorites has been from the top of the tram, along the East side of the Sandia’s and the Pecos.

Trails.com has a list of New Mexico hikes. So does Explore New Mexico.

Can any New Mexico readers suggest others?

New Mexico Driver Licenses Not Valid At US Airports In 2010

I have a feeling there will be some last minute changes that will still allow all states driver license. If not the situation could get ugly.

The Bush administration passed the law, designed to stop terrorists from entering the country, after Sept. 11, 2001. All 50 states have to comply with its regulations by Jan. 1, 2010.
Sec. Rick Homans said the clock is ticking and New Mexico is nowhere near close.
“The way it is right now, come Jan. 1st, residents of New Mexico and residents of about 25 other states wouldn’t be allowed to board airplanes unless they had a valid passport.”

This is not looking good.

Sen. Udall: Yeah. Well, as you are probably aware, the situation that we’re in now — we have health care on the floor — where if tried to move to anything else I think it would make it much more difficult procedurally. So I think if — I don’t see us getting to Pass ID on the Senate floor between now and the end of the year. So I think it would be very helpful for you to issue a statement — you might use this as an opportunity to do it — to assure people that after December 31st they will be able to travel with something other than a passport. I don’t know if you want to do that at this point but if you decline that’s fine.

Sec. Napolitano: I think I will not accept that invitation at this point in time.

Building A Habitat For Scorpions And Trying To Keep Them

I thought I would try to turn a negative into a positive with my scorpions situation by capturing them and keeping in them in a glassed habitat in the house. Perhaps there’s money to be made selling scorpions.

The first thing I did was to clean out a 10 gallon aquarium that was being unused.

Scorpion habitat from a 10 gallon aquarium

I then added cactus from the back yard.

I then added some sandy soil (commonly referred to as dirt), also from the back yard.

Adding sandy soil to the scorpion habitat

I then added a pile of rocks, from the front yard this time.

Adding a pile of rocks to the scorpion habitat

I then added the scorpion (Vaejovis flavus). This one came from inside the house.

Possible Vaejovis flavus species of scorpion?

The first scorpion died after keeping it in the tank for about a month. This was despite providing it several crickets that it quickly ate.

Since Saturn the cat came along, I rarely get a scorpion before she kills them. Plus she is has eliminated the scorpion food supply in the house so I don’t know that I will get much more of them. The tank currently sits empty.

Albuquerque Craigslist: 1976 Ford Ranchero, 1973 Cadillac Eldorado and 1972 Pontiac LeMans

There seems to be quite a few newer cars in the Albuquerque Craigslist auto section than there used to be. I had to go back several pages to find these three cars.

Not a much info available on a 1976 Ford Ranchero. I think they need to bring the Ranchero back, but not looking like these.

1976 Ford Ranchero for sale 1700$ willing to negotiate

$3250 for a 1973 Cadillac Eldorado convertible in Rio Rancho doesn’t sound too bad but I would be concerned about the condition. This would be a good car to drive around in the summer unless your in the mob. I think I have seen this one driving around town a few times.

Our 1973 eldorado runs ok but needs a transmission tune up it has a tear in convertable top fun car to pimp around in

I’m suspicious of a 1972 Pontiac LeMans for $2000 in Los Lunas. Only 62,000 miles? Plus the ad is written in all caps.

THIS IS A RUNNING 1972 PONTIAC LEMANS 4 DR. HARD TOP. 62K MILES. 350/350. I HAVE OWNED IT FOR 3 YEARS AND HAVE USED IT DAILY FOR WORK TRANSPORTATION. VERY RELIABLE. PARTS ON CAR ARE WORTH MORE THAN SELLING PRICE. GREAT BUMPERS, DASH, METAL. HAS 4 AMERICAN TORQUE THRUSTS WITH NEWER TIRES. PERFECT DASH PAD AND CAR HAS ORIGINAL PAINT AND IS RUST

FREE.

Why I Hate People And Order Everything On The Internet

After writing my post on the “How To Eat Chicken Wings Video”, I got a craving for some chicken wings. I called-in an order at the nearest Wing Basket and drove down to Albuquerque to get them.

When I pulled up to the place I could see a car sitting in front with it’s lights on and people inside. It took me a few minutes to get parked and out of the car. As I got out, the passenger of the other car got out and hurried to the door. We both seemed to race to the door but I did stop to open the door for the other person. She ignored me as I opened the door, not even a thank you, probably because she was too busy talking on her cell phone.

She was now first in line and both the cashier and myself were getting annoyed as she kept asking the same questions since she didn’t pay attention to the answers the first time because she was too busy talking on her phone. Since I was the only other person in the place it because pretty clear their one call-in order was for me. They only had one cashier so they could only do one order at a time.

Eventually she made her order. It was the smallest least complicated thing on the menu and it only took her 10 minutes. I’m not sure if she was consulting with the person on her cell phone or made this choice all on her own. Once she got out of line, she seemed oblivious that there was someone waiting in line behind her.

My Wings were delicious once I got home to eat them. The point of this story is to explain why I hate people and try to order everything on the internet.

Orthodox Jews Demonstrate Against Intel

AMD isn’t the only one that dislikes Intel. Some Jewish persons don’t like Intel too..

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews have demonstrated at Intel Corp’s new electronic chip plant in Israel in protest against work taking place at the site on the Jewish sabbath.

The protesters said on Saturday it was a desecration of the Sabbath, which runs from Friday night to Saturday night.

They were dispersed by police and a company spokesman said the plant was operating within the law and would continue to do so.

Intel, the world’s biggest chip manufacturer, opened the west Jerusalem plant for installation work before its inauguration on Sunday.

Where these people don’t like Intel for religious reasons, some in Coralles, New Mexico think Intel is poisoning them.

Please understand that the new chemicals that are being used up there are causing illnesses as serious as we had in the 1990s. Vison is blurred, eyes are burning and skin is peeling off the eylids. One breath of the toxic air causes choking, coughing and in Patricia’s case gasping for air. The toxins collect in her west side patio and in her house. With me it settles all around my property and comes in the house. This morning my eyes were swollen shut and inflamed I could hardly see. Each day my vision seems to be getting worse

I should note that the State of New Mexico cleared Intel of making people sick in 2004 but that decision was very controversial.

AMD Gets Paid

I was really surprised by an AMD and Intel announcement today.

Intel Corp. is paying Silicon Valley rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. $1.25 billion to squash a legal battle over Intel’s sales tactics, a rift that led to antitrust charges against Intel in several countries and was headed toward a costly and nasty trial next year.

Intel still has to face government charges from the EU and NY State but it AMD will stay out of those and not start any lawsuits of it’s own.

Update: TechCrunch says 1.25 billion is nothing to Intel.

Just to put the size of the settlement in context, last year Intel’s revenues were $38 billion. Last quarter alone, it was making roughly $104 million a day. At that rate, Intel brings in $1.25 billion every 12 days. It can absorb the settlement pretty easily.

How To Eat A Chicken Wing Video

There is a YouTube video making it’s way around the internet titled “How To Eat A Chicken Wing” by foodwishes.com.

I have been a chicken wing connoisseur since I used to eat 10 cent wings at the Native New Yorker in Arizona (which was supposed to come to Rio Rancho). I now prefer the Wing Basket in New Mexico, specifically the mild original and lemon pepper.

The video describes a way to remove bones from wing without wasting meat. I have used the method for many years and actually prefer wings over drumsticks thanks to this method. Some of the other websites, such as Lifehacker, suggest this can be done with “little to no mess”. Sorry, wings are messy. Plan accordingly.

Elizabeth Lambert Suspended

New Mexico is in the news with video of a University of New Mexico woman’s soccer player beating the shit out of BYU players. The video of Elizabeth Lambert has been making it’s way across the web and although KOB says all of the video of Elizabeth Lambert has been removed from YouTube, I found a video from the Associated Press which shows some of the incidents.

The Lobo’s website has a profile page up for Elizabeth Lambert which states:

Born Elizabeth Ann Lambert on December 29, 1988 … enjoys camping and surfing in her spare time … favorite food is tacos … is majoring in University Studies with a focus on Occupational Therapy

There’s a Occupational Therapy joke in there somewhere. What the profile fails to mention is that she was indefinitely suspended from UNM soccer. Although her official statement was that she was sorry (I hope so), I really wonder what her deal is. I hope she tells more about why she was so rough.

Greg In The Desert

Stuff from a guy who lives in the desert