You Can't Get Lost

 Hello Bloggeroo's! I bet you think I've been ignoring you.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  I may have been neglecting, but not ignoring.  I'll make it up (no, I won't make it "up", I will tell you the truth) later.... There is so much to talk about, and I'm so tired tonight, as I have been most nights. Just a list of topics to discuss (as much so I can remember to write about it): The closet project. The Hash get together The stair project. The MIT museum. The Boston Fine Arts Museum and subway. The Tapas Dinner My Birthday Dinner at the Portuguese Restaurant. The Hash get-together at the German and Independence Bars The pickup! The Boston Symphony and Mahler!! And I'm so tired now, and good, and happy!  I've been having a great time.   I'll do one tonight.  As you may have figured out from the title, yesterday (the 20th) was my 73rd birthday.  Yesterday, I put three layers of primer on the walls in the closet (more eventually), K...

 Hello Campers!  New edition, sans Truck and Trailer. This is a simple trip to lay out, Fly from Denver to Boston on October 13th, Stay in the Boston confines for 11 days and Fly home on the 24th.   When I talked to Pastor Nate last Sunday, I told him I was flying to Boston.  He said Jill, his wife, had just flown out of DIA a few days before and had an hour and a half in the security line, and people were missing planes.  I greatly dislike (read hate!) waiting in line for security (though I like security itself) so I decided I would not risk it and leave early for my 11:35 flight.  Also, traffic on I-25 from Cheyenne to Denver can be evil to drive with construction and people wanting to drive 85-90 by zig-zagging back and forth and causing everyone else to have to brake and slow down.  And on a good day, with one rest stop for the morning pressure relief, it takes about 2-1/2 hours to drive, often pushing 3.   So, adding time in for alt...

I've driven this whole way and taken very few shots of the scenery around me.  Especially since Monarch Pass, the fall colors have been great.  But, I didn't want to take pictures while driving the pass, so it wasn't until I got back to Wyoming before I took a few. Another successful trip is in the bag.   Trip Summary: Trailer Miles:                 1484 miles Truck Miles: Daily Cost:                     $129.43 Next trip coming up:  Boston with Erik and Eliza - October 13-24 See you there if not before.

What can I say about Jay and Kathy Puckett?  Jay and I have been friends since 1979.  I had been teaching at Colorado State University for a year while I was working on my Ph.D., and they put Jay in my office so he could get some pointers from a guy with more experience.  Well, in two or three weeks, I realized he was a more creative teacher than I was.  I don't remember whether it was a semester or a year before he escaped my office (one of the few people to actually make it out alive).   Sally and I moved up to Laramie in 1981 while I still had two years to work on my Ph.D.  I finished in 1983, as did Jay.  One of our senior structures professors announced his retirement and I called Jay to tell him to apply for the position, which he did.  We worked together for the next 32 years.  He's been a friend, a mentor, my department head, a booster.  He encouraged me to go into the teaching and student path at which I was successful....

Me, Sandy and Jeff Groom "You'll never forget your first girl."  -  Advertisement for St. Pauli Girl beer. "You'll never forget your first graduate student."  Thom Edgar And Jeff Groom was my first.  We were a great team from the first few weeks of school in 1981 through the next five years.  I was just starting at U of Wyoming as a lecturer then and Jeff was just starting a new opportunity to redeem himself at a new college after experiencing several others beforehand.  He came in as a junior (kind of) and was my advisee.  In addition to the "what can we do to help you become successful" lecture, I strongly encouraged him to join the ASCE student chapter where I was assisting another professor who was the advisor.  I knew it would be good socialization for him (boy, did that work out) and it would give him a broader understanding of civil engineering.  It would also give him some focus for his studies.   And he became a rock star s...

Today was the start of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.  This is the 50th Anniversary of the event, and they were hoping that they would beat the previous number of balloons.  I donæt know the numbers, but they had 900 balloons in 1988 (hot air and gas) and I think they were hoping for 650 now (hot air).  I think the TV reported 115,000 people there at Balloon Park.  The party goes on for nine days, including a nighttime flight and stage shows during the day.     This is a picture Jaye took off their TV.  Much better than mine as I was heading north out of ABQ to spend the night on the top of Raton Pass. Those dots aren't dust flakes on the camera lens, they are balloons about a mile north of Balloon Park! At 269 miles, today was my longest drive.  But it was broken up by a stop to see a dear friend from college, Bill Russell.  Bill was a music major along with Loraine Warren Marlow and Sally Solien Edgar.  He was a piano performance...

 Today was just a quiet day with the family.  No pictures, no mileage.  At home.  My choice.

Don't look at this picture now. Its also at the end, where it should be. There is something about a Herbarium/Botanic Garden that is irksome to me.  They just don't sound that interesting.  Museums (most any kind), trains, cars, wood, telescopes... I like things.  Something about the Enginerd that likes tangibles.  (He who has the most toys wins!?)   Botanic gardens aren't like that.  They kind of soft and fuzzy.  Most of the plants don't do much but grow, bloom and die.  Give me a good Venus Flytrap.  It moves, It eats.  Or the Little House of Horrors.   Until I get there.  Then its like Wow! That's really neat!  Look at those colors.  Bees.  Butterflies.  There's all this life going on, not the least of which is creating oxygen from carbon dioxide.  The plant needs the Carbon, we need the Oxide.  Great balance.  And I taught irrigation and drainage in the fields in Egypt.  I k...

 Albuquerque is located along a fault line that is upthrusted on the east and downthrusted under the city to create the Rio Grande Valley.  The Sandia range towers about 5000 ft over the city.  Sandia Peak is on the north side of the range and has been a landmark for thousands of years.   A tramway goes up the west side of the peak for both observation at the top and to help service a ski area on the east side.  I've wanted to go up the tram since I first saw it years ago, and today was the day.   We were able to buy tickets on-line at the bottom of the hill.  We only waited about 10 minutes for the gondola to come down and up we went.  The elevation of the lower terminal is 6559 ft and the elevation at the top is 10, 378, or a climb of 3878 ft (or 3/4 of a mile).  Albuquerque itself is 5,312 ft so from top to bottom, the tram is 5066 ft, or essentially a mile above the city.   This seems to be taking a long time to write ...