Greg In The Desert

In-N-Out Burger hates Albuquerque. They refuse to build any restaurants in the State of New Mexico. (ok ok, perhaps they are trying not to go out of business by over expanding like Krispy Kreams. whatever). What happens where there’s unfulfilled demand? Knock offs, like Stop-N-Go that was found by KOB in southwest Albuquerque.

While In-N-Out Burger only serves burgers, Stop-N-Go serves wings. This isn’t a bad idea from my perspective. KOB fails to indicate if Stop-N-Go serves non-frozen meat, non-frozen french fries made right from the potato in the store and real ice cream shakes. So far the reviews on Yelp are not favorable.

It’s a bit far from Rio Rancho and doubt I will make it to that side of town unless I hear rave reviews. My waist line is better off in either case.

The local electric utility in Rio Rancho, NM is scheduled to move a gigantic electrical transformer through the city.

The transformer will be hauled by a massive, specialized truck that has 174 wheels on 24 axles and is the length of a football field, or about 300 feet. It is expected to take 8 to 10 hours for the truck to move the transformer about 12 miles from railroad tracks in Bernalillo, through Bernalillo and Rio Rancho, to the switching station currently under construction northwest of Rio Rancho.

It’s supposed to travel from the railroad in Bernallio, up 550 to 528, then from 528 to Northern Avenue to where the pavement ends. This isn’t far from my house.

It was originally schedule for Sunday however PNM doesn’t have all the road permits so it will sit on the truck until it’s moved. Hopefully I can find out when it’s been rescheduled to move so I can get some video of the event.

Update: from PNM

All permits have been secured. The transformer will be moved through Bernalillo and Rio Rancho beginning shortly after midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 22. The move is expected to take 2-3 hours, given the minimal traffic at that time.

I was up for the move but it was too dark to record video with the gear I have.

Update 2: The Associated Press had a few articles on this event. Every single news paper in the country had the same article as the local news and TV stations. I did find a little original reporting.

• KOB has very little video which doesn’t do much to show how big this thing is.
• KOAT has a slide show which does very little to show how big this thing is.

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.

The local TV news station KOB has more on the iPhone balloon tracking application. The app is written by Anthony Cardinale and is a real time tracking application. It’s being tested by 5 ballon pilots and chase crews at this years Albuquerque Ballon Fiasco, I mean Balloon Fiesta.

“At some point, every pilot could be using this, and we are going to have a free version that allows people to come to the Balloon Fiesta and load it up to see where all the balloons are in real time,” Cardinale said.

Might make going to the Balloon Fiesta worthwhile.

Local New Mexico news report Tom Joles of KOB briefly explained why he had a black eye. Reasonable considering he shows his face on TV nearly every day.

The some of the unmoderated comments on KOB.com’s website wanted to know why this was news. Other’s were not accepting the official explanation of a sinus related medical conditon. Here’s a few of my favorites.

Ret-Cop:

Fitting. His entire field of so-called journalism has one too.

Thunderbolt:

Has anyone ask Nicole Brady if ole Tom got a little frisky?

lies:

I heard that night in the ER that he was riding his horse at night and ran into a tree!!!

Orbit:

He was slugged by a stripper at Fantasy World.

• www.KOB.com – APD sees rise in new meth making method – Meth makers have found a new way to create the highly dangerous drug—they call it “shake and bake.” APD says most of the meth cases they work with now involve the shake and bake method.
• THE MOST NOTORIOUS COUNTERFEITER: DETAILS Article on men.style.com – Despite the best efforts of the Secret Service, the printer behind these notes evaded capture for more than three years. By then, Albert Edward Talton, of Lawndale, California, was responsible for putting more than $7 million in phony currency into circulation. And he'd made much of it using supplies purchased from his local Staples.
• Struggling homeowners left in limbo – Five months into the $75 billion federal program meant to toss a lifeline to homeowners facing foreclosure, most people in need of help are still floundering. Overall, about 15 percent of borrowers across the country who are eligible for the program have been offered help from their lender, according to a recent U.S. Treasury Department report. Of those homeowners, 9 percent have participated in a trial loan modification. President Barack Obama's administration is calling for lenders to ramp up their efforts and help 500,000 more homeowners by November.
• www.KOB.com – Man arrested for 22nd drunken driving offense – State police say a Mora County man has been arrested for his 22nd drunken driving offense – and his blood-alcohol content tested almost five times higher than New Mexico's legal limit.
• Colorado wildlife experts get aggressive going after smart bears – The Denver Post – Colorado wildlife overseers flummoxed by a rash of bear-human conflicts are searching for options, from "adverse conditioning" to haze nuisance bears that have been trapped to raising the number of hunting permits to thin the population. Wildlife officials say hundreds of clashes this summer in mountain towns — including a fatal attack, a mauling and myriad break-ins — require an aggressive response.
• Philltopia » 15 life lessons learned from SimCity – Ah, SimCity. While all the other video games out there were teaching us to become violent, antisocial little monsters, SimCity was quietly showing us the positive, constructive side of life. As a loyal player for many years, I thought I’d reflect on the countless insightful lessons this little game has taught me.
• iPhone Jailbreaking Could Crash Cellphone Towers, Apple Claims | Threat Level | Wired.com – The nation’s cellphone networks could suffer “potentially catastrophic” cyberattacks by iPhone-wielding hackers at home and abroad if iPhone owners are permitted to legally jailbreak their shiny wireless devices — that’s what Apple claims.
• Al Jazeera English – Asia-Pacific – China cracks down on rights lawyers – The authorities in China appear to have mounted a sweeping crackdown on human rights lawyers, revoking the licences of more than 50 lawyers in the past week.
• The Best Place To Hide Money: Conversation With A Burglar – Personal Finance Advice – I had quite the interesting conversation this weekend with a person who happened to be a former burglar. It was great timing because I was wondering if something like the skid mark underwear for hiding money would really work. I also figured that if you wanted to know the best place to hide your money from a burglar, a former burglar was the person to ask.
• SIA: Global chip sales on an upswing – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Worldwide sales of semiconductors for the second quarter of 2009 were $51.7 billion, a 17 percent increase from the first quarter when sales were $44.2 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported Monday.

• First H1N1 death confirmed in NM – A 45-year-old woman from Sierra County died over the weekend, becoming the first person in New Mexico to die from the H1N1 Influenza Virus.
• www.KOB.com – Gov. calls for jail time for first DWI offense – Gov. Bill Richardson says first-time drunken driving offenses should carry three days of mandatory jail time and $2,500 in fines.
• McCarthyism – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – McCarthyism is the politically motivated practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term specifically describes activities associated with the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by heightened fears of communist influence on American institutions and espionage by Soviet agents. Originally coined to criticize the anti-communist pursuits of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, "McCarthyism" soon took on a broader meaning, describing the excesses of similar efforts. The term is also now used more generally to describe reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, as well as demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries.
• Internet friends log on to suicide note | KRQE News 13 New Mexico – Facebook friends of Jason McCoy who sign on to their social-networking Web pages Wednesday morning found a long message from the Albuquerque man announcing his intent to kill himself. In the farewell note posted on their Facebook Walls McCoy, 33, told friends and family he recently had lost his job, was losing his home to foreclosure and had been kicked out of the home where he had been staying.
• Interview with Rob Janoff, designer of the Apple logo | creativebits – When Jean Louis Gassée (executive at Apple Computer from 1981 to 1990) was asked about his thoughts to the Apple logo he answered:
  One of the deep mysteries to me is our logo, the symbol of lust and knowledge, bitten into, all crossed with the colors of the rainbow in the wrong order. You couldn't dream of a more appropriate logo: lust, knowledge, hope, and anarchy.
• Dallas-bound American Airlines jetliner makes emergency landing in Los Angeles | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News – A Dallas-bound American Airlines jetliner was forced to make an emergency landing in Los Angeles on Friday night after passengers said they saw parts of the right wing falling off.

  Flight 414 had taken off from San Diego when passengers said they heard an unusual noise as the aircaft flew higher.

  The jet was diverted to Los Angeles International Airport and landed without incident. American Airlines says maintenance crews found missing "lamination" on the right wing, but there was no hole.

• www.KOB.com – School reopens after four decades – Coronado Elementary, built more than 100 years ago and shut down for the past four decades, is set to open up again on Monday.
• I-25 drivers encounter half mile of terror in Northglenn – The Denver Post – A police report released Friday recounts the harrowing scene on I-25 Monday evening when the Jeep, driven by 48-year-old Broomfield resident David Scott Ulwelling, sped southbound in northbound lanes near 120th Avenue for more than a half mile. No fewer than seven vehicles swerved out of the way of Ulwelling's Jeep before it collided with the Applegarths' truck, setting off a chain reaction that eventually involved five other vehicles.
• BBC – Earth News – How cacti become ‘rock busters’ – Few plants can grow without soil and even fewer are capable of growing on nothing but bare rock. Yet some species of desert cactus manage this extraordinary feat, and now scientists have worked out how. The plants have evolved a symbiotic relationship with rock-dissolving bacteria, which they allow to grow in their roots, say the scientists.
• Lunch ladies no longer serving up fried foods to students | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Latest News – The stricter Texas Public School Nutrition Policy, phased in over the last several years, will be in full effect when kids show up Monday. That means no more deep-fried anything, no more sodas and no more so-called "foods of minimal nutritional value."

KOB recently did an interesting article on a group of independent iPhone developers in Albuquerque who work at a coffee shop and call themselves the Cocoa Conspiracy. The group includes Andrew Stone of Stone Design who has a number of both Mac and iPhone applications.

Apparently Stone Design’s Twittelator Pro is doing well. The article also talks about a very cool sounding hot air balloon and chase crew app.

“It can actually overlay the chase group’s position and the balloon’s location and speed over a map live. That way people can plan their routes to get to the balloon and where it’s going to land,”

That’s an awesome idea, I wish I would have thought of it. Albuquerque has “Largest balloon convention in the world” according to Wikipedia so it’s fitting that a app like this should be developed in Albuquerque.

I want to hook up with these guys perhaps they can give me some help in developing my own apps. The article fails to mention what coffee shop the “The Cocoa Conspiracy” hang out at.

• Pledge of Allegiance Upheld in New Mexico – As a response to this disappointing outcome, here are some reasons to abolish the Pledge:
  1.) Partially designed as a marketing scheme to sell flags.
  2.) Before 1942 the accompanying salute, the Bellamy, was suspiciously similar to that of the Nazis.
  3.) I'm told that "God" isn't supposed to be involved with the American government.
  4.) There is no liberty in being forced by a republic to swear loyalty to that republic.
  5.) Cultish.
• Qwest ends "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" perk – The Denver Post – Qwest has eliminated a perk in which top executives were given tens of thousands of dollars each year to cover unreported expenses, the company disclosed in a filing today. A shareholder slammed the perk at the company's annual meeting in May, calling it "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" compensation.
• Can the cocaine on dollar bills be used to track drug use around the country? – By Kim Gittleson – Slate Magazine – More than 90 percent of U.S. currency is contaminated with cocaine, according to a study presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society. The study's lead author told reporters that the rate had been 67 percent two years ago and that the increase may be due to a rise in consumption of the drug spurred by the economic downturn. Can dirty money really be used to track cocaine use?
• The business of human smuggling in a Mexican border town. (1) – By Sacha Feinman – Slate Magazine – ALTAR, Mexico—I hadn't yet taken 10 steps off the bus when I made eye contact with someone for the first time. "Are you going north?" he hissed, walking quickly toward me. "Let's go. Let's go," he implored.
• Driving instructor charged with DWI – An Albuquerque driving instructor faces DWI charges after a Rio Rancho Police officer found him so intoxicated at a crash site that he couldn’t even stand without holding onto his car.
• www.KOB.com – Cops: Members of ‘Memphis Mob’ skipping town – In April, police arrested 45 members of the Memphis Mob—a criminal group that police say set up a drug pipeline that funneled crack cocaine from Albuquerque to Tennessee. Several members that were arrested on minor drug possession charges are now bonding out of jail, then leaving for Tennessee before more serious charges come their way, according to police.
• 92 markets caught in manufacturing slide – New Mexico Business Weekly: – According to the report, Albuquerque has lost 3,300 manufacturing jobs. Detroit is the market that has been hit hardest by the manufacturing slump, largely because of the difficulties currently besetting domestic automakers. The Detroit area has lost 118,600 manufacturing jobs during the half-decade, 39.4 percent of its June 2004 total of 301,200.
• www.KOB.com – Man indicted for simulated sex – with car – “Witnesses, including two children, told police that their attention was drawn to Brawner because his pants were around his ankles, he was swinging his arms in the air and shouting while he was ‘humping’ the trunk of his car,” Davis reports in a press release.
• Verizon adds cell site in Rio Rancho – New Mexico Business Weekly: – Verizon Wireless has added a new cell site to improve service to customers in Rio Rancho. The site expands 3G high-speed wireless coverage in northern Rio Rancho, including the city center, and in the Mariposa Ranch community.
• Mountain lion captured in eastern part of Denver metro area – The Denver Post – A Division of Wildlife officer tranquilized the animal, and it was relocated to the remote foothills on the west side of the metro region, where mountain lions more typically roam.