Urk...

I'm sure that, given time and a higher level of awareness, I could come up with an impressive list of things that are less rewarding, but right now, getting up at 4:45 am to catch a 4:55 am satellite pass that actually occurred yesterday (don't ask) tops the list.

However, it is gratifying to look outside and see stars instead of murk.

I'm off to see if I can fall back asleep for a couple of hours.

Cheers...

Tired of searching...

After checking and sending off the two PowerPoint files, I've spent most of the day searching for some paperwork Galina needs down in Texas. I do so dislike this kind of activity. I wish I had been in one of those rare moods where a lot of stuff gets thrown out as a result of this kind of rummage, but I wasn't.

Drew had me over at the store for the 4 pm crunch, which was quite manageable, especially considering the arrival of a long-awaited check, which I deposited with its sibling from a couple of days ago. The two formed a much-needed transfusion into an otherwise anemic account.

Talking about Drew, here's a shot of the group as we broke up after last night's birthday dinner at JJs here in Pagosa:


Today, unlike the case a few weekends ago, I had plenty of time to use the slow cooker to make corned beef and it turned out very well, albeit there wasn't really enough room in the pot for much else other than the brisket, so I cooked the cabbage separately, using some of the liquid from the slow cooker. Very nice dinner.

Four days and a wakeup before my departure for Albuquerque, and I am faced with something of a conundrum, as I have a very tight budget for expenses for this gig. Do I make a reservation at a conventional hotel and risk only one night's stay (~$69) as a penalty if the meeting is canceled, or do I try to save money via the Priceline.com route and pay ~$45 per night for 9 nights, in advance and on a non-refundable basis?

This all depends, of course, on the probability of the meeting occurring, or not. I am leaning toward the Internet special alternative.

Cheers...

Out for a walk...

After my magnificent dinner of corned beef and cabbage, I sweet-talked myself into taking a walk covering about 1.2 miles horizontally and almost 300 feet vertically. The route is my... what should I call it? favorite? standard? Anyway, it's the walk that takes me "around the block."

I didn't feel winded the way I did the other day, except for the part where I deviated from the path and climbed up to the top of the local hill to see if I could find the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey benchmark that's shown as being at an elevation of 7796 ft according to my USGS topographic map.

I found the benchmark without too much trouble and the only additional information it yielded was that it had been placed in 1956, and that if I wanted any additional information, I should address my letter to the Survey's Director in D.C. I had hoped that there would be additional information stamped on the metal plate, but aside from the name of the benchmark - Sunetha - and an inscription warning me of a $250 fine (or imprisonment) for disturbing the marker, there was nothing.

I had left the house with the sun getting pretty low to the horizon, and felt a little like the poor sap in a story whose title I forget, but whose plot involved a man being granted as much land as he could mark out by walking around its perimeter before the sun set. Near the end of the story, he is about to give up since in his view the sun has set, but his ending point is at the top of the hill he's on, and at the top of the hill the sun is still above the horizon. As the small crowd cheers him on, he makes one last valiant effort, achieves the summit... and dies on the spot. Moral: all the land a man really needs is what he can be buried in. But I digress...

So there I was, climbing the hill to the benchmark and the shadows were moving higher. After getting to the top and examining the benchmark, I looked around to see what I could see.



I rested my muscles for a bit while resting my eyes on this magnificent sight. And came home with a spring in my step.

Cheers...