Greg In The Desert

What kind of people live in Chandler, Az? Not me anymore but Richard Anthony Flores does, who drove nearly 80 mph while standing through his sunroof. The cameras on these section of freeways are made very obvious, the guy was trying to get someone’s attention.

During the first incident on Nov. 6, Flores reportedly reached 90 mph in a 65 mph zone on the San Tan portion of the Loop 202 near Lindsay Road.

In the other two incidents, Flores was captured on camera driving his Volkswagen Passat while standing through his sunroof. Those incidents occurred minutes apart on Nov. 11 on westbound U.S. 60 near Mesa Drive, then Alma School Road. Flores reached speeds of just under 80 mph, according to DPS.

Flores’ vehicle triggered DPS photo enforcement cameras 14 times in October and November. Investigators have tied Flores to eight of those violations.

Bailey said Flores “wasn’t surprised when he was contacted.”

He was also served with seven civil speeding citations.

The Arizona Republic has an story about Brad Niesluchowski who worked for the Higley Unified School District and was fired for installing SETI@home, among other things. He appears to be some sort of administrator. There appear to be other charges including stolen equipment and failure to train other staff.

Higley officials so far estimate the damages, energy usage and equipment losses linked to Niesluchowski at $1.2 million to $1.6 million.

…

Higley officials said the SETI program requires wattage to run, and therefore was an extra burden on computer processors and power usage. They allege several computer processors would burn out sooner than expected, and the SETI program’s operation raised utility costs.

They don’t go into specific on how much extra it cost the school district to run SETI@Home but I have to question if it was really significant amount of power. Perhaps the school district and news site are over emphasizing the use of SETI@Home as part of the excuse to fire fire him.

When SETI@Home first came out, there was a lot of competition and I installed it on every computer I could find. Today I don’t care but I could see how it was its easy to install everywhere.

Update 12/05/09: Berkley’s Eric Korpela releases “FAQ and comments about the Higley School District controversy“. He indicates a lot of bad reporting and I agree.

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.

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.

The boring and uninteresting Qwest building in Phoenix Arizona was imploded on September 27th. The explosion is apparently going to be part of the TLC TV show called “Dynamite Family”.

Although azcentral.com’s story includes a video, I recommend a comercial free version by user teamdroid on Flickr. I’m sure there’s more than a few on YouTube as well.

When I was a kid growing up in Arizona one of the few memories I can recall is visiting the Ahwatukee Arizona “House of the Future” with Boy Scout troop 456. The house was built in 1979 at a cost $1,200,000 dollars. It was a demonstration for a planned community. It appears to have lost money every year it was sold.

Surprisingly there is no Wikipedia entry on the subject but I did find a June 23rd, 1980 article from InfoWorld on Google Book Search.

The house was designed by Charles R. Schiffner of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Built over 30 years ago it featured an advanced home automation system with five Motorola 6800 processors linked together. The system was designed by Motorola who was the major employer in Arizona at the time.

It’s important to note that the Ahwatukee home is not a computer controlled home, rather the home permits the tenant to to be in complete control of his environment, making the important decisions which will then be carried out by the microcomputer system.

That’s a quote from Charles E. Thompson, some marketing genius who seems to want to keep people from being scared of the computer controlled house. It’s also worth mentioning that 30 years later, I have been able to reproduce everything that house was capable of for a few thousand dollars and that such home automation capabilities have not yet caught on although the energy saving technologies have.

The house still exists today at 3713 Equestrian Trail, Phoenix, Az and can be seen on Google Maps. Although they gave tours back in the day for $3, I can’t seem to find any information on who the current owner is or even pictures of the interior on the internet.

A high school teacher in my hometown of Chandler, Arizona claims to have found a scorpion in his bag when he bought an egg McMuffin from McDonalds. The story on Channel 15’s website describes the scorpion as a baby and more venoumus than an adult.

It wasn’t just any scorpion — it was a baby scorpion, which is even more venomous than it’s adult counterpart.

Both of these statements are false. The scorpion appears to be a Vaejovis spinigerus, that looks like the same kind of scorpion I find in New Mexico. This is probably an adult as they don’t get much bigger than this. Had Channel 15 bothered to just use google, they would have found the ASU’s “Ask A Biologist” website where Christopher Putnam states

Other people say the sting of a baby scorpion is more dangerous than the sting of an adult, but again, this is false. The venom in a scorpion’s stinger is the same all through a scorpion’s life.

I suppose it is possible for the scorpion to find it’s way into the bag. I would hope it didn’t get into the bag at the restaurant but maybe in at the manufacturer or during transport. I wasn’t able to find where the bags are made. Scorpions are found in Chandler, but since the city has become more developed they are not nearly as common as they used to be. I find the whole story suspicious.

Since I’ve been in Phoenix Arizona a lot recently, I though I would check out the Autos posted for sale in Craigslist there. I was expecting more cars and more of a variety of cars. But I was disappointed since it seemed there were less older cars in Phoenix compared to Albuquerque.

One thing I can tell is there are a lot of desperate, broke and unemployed people in the Phoenix Metro area. Take this 1978 Cadillac Hearse for $1700 with 125,000 miles.

I have a 1978 cadillac hearse, white with black top. Its has the 425 engine with about 125000 original miles. Yes it runs, and good. A/C needs some work. All the windows are in good shape with a limo tint all around. I also have a custom dual exhaust on it. Everything else is fairly stock as far as I know. It has the Cadillac side mirrors, hood orniment, front and rear light lenses, and hub caps. The interiors in decent shape. Still has the roller set up in back. I have the privacy glass taken out, but I do still have it. It has electric windows in the front, however I think the motor on the passenger side just went out. The window rolled down, but now wont come back up? Other than that, there is some rust spots on the car. Not too bad, but near the 2 rear doors and the back door. This can be seen in the pictures. I was trying to sell this originally for $2500, but times are hard for everybody including me. Im now in the process of selling my entire life and my hearse will not fit in the shopping cart I will be living out of soon. Please help! The first $1700 takes right now. Since I am now poor, my phones has been shut off. Please email me.

Something not seen driving around town is a 1961 International Scout 80 for $1500. It’s not listed how many miles but looks like it’s been used as storage.

1961 International Scout 80. Great little 4×4 or hunting rig. Have all glass, runs well, and i put a new muffler on it. The body is in decent shape for a 1961 4×4 (minor dents and scratches). The interior is pretty bare, original seat needs recovered and the guages are all there but dont work too well. It’s a 3 speed with a twin stick transfer case. Email with questions. $1,500 or best offer.

Here’s a 1977 Oldsmobile Regency 99 Series with 109,000 for $750. It’s not up to todays safety standards but it’s a pretty good price for the miles.

1977 Oldsmobile Regency 99 Series. $750 or best offer. RUNS GREAT! Good tires. New brakes approximately 16 months ago. 109,000 original miles. 8 cylinder. Needs new heater core. Air conditioning works but needs freon added first. Upholstery needs repair. Mother no longer drives so need to sell.

Since I’m doing a lot of traveling right now I pay extra attention to airline travel related news. I found this story about the name “Dean Martin” being on the Do Not Fly list.

This situation was found the hard way by the State Treasurer of Arizona Dean Martin. Who thinks it’s politically motivated because he doesn’t get along with the former Governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano. Janet Napolitano now runs Homeland Security who is in charge of the Do Not Fly list.

It seems odd that Homeland Security would put such a common name on their list. Actually the whole concept of the Do Not Fly list is odd.

I am setting at PDX (Portland International Airport) near my gate for a flight that leaves later today. I arrived this morning for quick work related business. Somewhere at the security checkpoint at Phoenix International Airport and boarding the plane to PDX I lost my ID.

I didn’t find this out until I was in my Rental car getting everything ready to drive off. It turned out to be a very stressful day. Obviously rental car companies will not allow you to drive off without a drivers license. I have to thank my good friend Mustafa for coming down to the airport to get me and take me to where I needed to do my official business.

He brought me back and I approached the TSA officer and told them I lost my ID at Phoenix. They took me aside, teased that the rubber hoses were over there, and asked to look at what I did have.

I pulled out everything in my wallet with my name on it, he looked it over and then I found my Costco card that had a picture on it. A crappy picture but it was something. That was it. No further pat down, not special baggage checks. I supposed bad guys don’t walk around with worn out credit cards, Costco cards, voter and library cards. He also quizzed me on some items in my checkbook.Despite the bad reputation TSA gets, I have never had a bad experience with any of the officers.

If they didn’t find my drivers license in PHX, I have a real pain to go through to get a replacement. That’s a story for another blog post.