Well, we knew it was bound to happen but how very sad for those of us that were with Washington Mutual (WaMu) during its heyday in the 90's. WaMu has failed and been sold to JP Morgan Chase.
I remember sitting through New Employee Orientation back in 1993 learning the history of this up & coming banking institution - established in 1889 after the great fire of Seattle... I remember being there through it's phenomenal growth period - doubling its size with every new acquisition. What an exciting time... hard to watch it stumble then fall so far. Toward the end it was a struggle, but I have to say it was a great company to work for and I will always look at my time there fondly. I met great people, learned alot as I started my career and made some terrific friends at WaMu.
Farewell WaMu...
Friday, September 26, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Blogs & Photos & Java Issues
Still having photo-posting issues. Something to do with Java (and our internet connection I'm sure...) frustrating to no end! Maybe we'll figure it out eventually.
Recycling... A Thing Of The Past
Ok - probably not everywhere but certainly here. No recycling, everything goes in the trash!!! After 15 years of recycling training, its really hard to throw everything into the same bucket!
I guess Albuquerque did (and maybe still does) tried recycling - but they just don't have the infrastructure (meaning recycling centers to take the stuff) to handle it. So the story goes... The city did a big push on recycling then some investigative reporting turned up the fact that while they said they were recycling, they were really just taking it all to the landfills because they had run out of room at the recycling centers.
My parents & grandparents (like everyone else around them) burned everything - plastic bottles, plastic bags, milk jugs, papers... all in the trash burner. We felt like terrorists out minding the burn barrel. They did through their food scrapes in a different heap... not to really use as compost, so I don't know why those items didn't get burned too.
I think to "ease" my mind, I'm going to designate a can just for cans & bottles, even if we do sack it up with the garbage...
I guess Albuquerque did (and maybe still does) tried recycling - but they just don't have the infrastructure (meaning recycling centers to take the stuff) to handle it. So the story goes... The city did a big push on recycling then some investigative reporting turned up the fact that while they said they were recycling, they were really just taking it all to the landfills because they had run out of room at the recycling centers.
My parents & grandparents (like everyone else around them) burned everything - plastic bottles, plastic bags, milk jugs, papers... all in the trash burner. We felt like terrorists out minding the burn barrel. They did through their food scrapes in a different heap... not to really use as compost, so I don't know why those items didn't get burned too.
I think to "ease" my mind, I'm going to designate a can just for cans & bottles, even if we do sack it up with the garbage...
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Moving In and Our First Visitor
How apropos that we arrived in Albuquerque under heavy, cloudy skies and sprinkles of rain, a wreck on I-40 shutting it down and lots of rush hour traffic? It rained a smidgen on Friday (of course) as we were moving stuff in but being used to doing stuff in the rain we perservered. :-)
Our POD arrived around 10:30 or so Friday morning and we began unpacking. It goes much faster unloading than it does loading one, that's for sure!! We didn't get it comepletely unloaded until Saturday afternoon, but now we are ready for POD #2! Hopefully we'll get it Monday - we packed the beds in POD one but all of the sheets are in POD 2. That's productive planning for you! HAHA
Everything has gone splendidly so far - we've hoisted, shoved and squeezed things up the tight staircase, I think we have two more "big" items from the second POD that will need to go upstairs - after that it's all downstairs stuff! YEA!!! Now its organizing time, which will take a while I'm sure; it did in our old house, we'd put stuff away in one spot and then after we adjusted to the flow we'd move it for convenience.
I will admit, I didn't think I'd ever, ever find a house I liked as much as the Monroe house but I think I did - too bad, its just a rental place. The neighborhood is very quiet - except at night when the coyotes howl and the dogs start barking. Everyone seems very friendly (nothing compared to our old nieghbors tho!!) And we sorta have a view of Sandia Peak. Not the expansive views we had in Monroe but nice nontheless. Oh, and SUNSHINE!!! It's weird to sit on the patio with the sun shining and not be racing around trying to get things mowed 'before the rain". We sat there nervously, thinking - Wait, we can do it tomorrow. Weird but I'm sure we'll acclimate.
Mornings have been very, very cool and days in the upper 70s to mid-80's we'd guess. Not too bad. After the sprinkles on Friday, it has really cleared up.
And we've already had our first "visitor". Certainly not a welcome one and I'm sorry to say (not really) that we were not gracious hosts. Below are pics of a "redhead centipede" (posted later when the blog will let me) that I found in the closet of one of the bedrooms (I won't say which so you'll still come visit). This was something our rental agent warned us about but everyone else said was a rare sighting. “If we are lucky we might see one once a year maybe twice.” Well this was enough, don’t ever need to see another and especially not in my house!!
Take care friends and come see us in sunny New Mexico!
Our POD arrived around 10:30 or so Friday morning and we began unpacking. It goes much faster unloading than it does loading one, that's for sure!! We didn't get it comepletely unloaded until Saturday afternoon, but now we are ready for POD #2! Hopefully we'll get it Monday - we packed the beds in POD one but all of the sheets are in POD 2. That's productive planning for you! HAHA
Everything has gone splendidly so far - we've hoisted, shoved and squeezed things up the tight staircase, I think we have two more "big" items from the second POD that will need to go upstairs - after that it's all downstairs stuff! YEA!!! Now its organizing time, which will take a while I'm sure; it did in our old house, we'd put stuff away in one spot and then after we adjusted to the flow we'd move it for convenience.
I will admit, I didn't think I'd ever, ever find a house I liked as much as the Monroe house but I think I did - too bad, its just a rental place. The neighborhood is very quiet - except at night when the coyotes howl and the dogs start barking. Everyone seems very friendly (nothing compared to our old nieghbors tho!!) And we sorta have a view of Sandia Peak. Not the expansive views we had in Monroe but nice nontheless. Oh, and SUNSHINE!!! It's weird to sit on the patio with the sun shining and not be racing around trying to get things mowed 'before the rain". We sat there nervously, thinking - Wait, we can do it tomorrow. Weird but I'm sure we'll acclimate.
Mornings have been very, very cool and days in the upper 70s to mid-80's we'd guess. Not too bad. After the sprinkles on Friday, it has really cleared up.
And we've already had our first "visitor". Certainly not a welcome one and I'm sorry to say (not really) that we were not gracious hosts. Below are pics of a "redhead centipede" (posted later when the blog will let me) that I found in the closet of one of the bedrooms (I won't say which so you'll still come visit). This was something our rental agent warned us about but everyone else said was a rare sighting. “If we are lucky we might see one once a year maybe twice.” Well this was enough, don’t ever need to see another and especially not in my house!!
Take care friends and come see us in sunny New Mexico!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
9/11 - We Have Arrived
I hope everyone took a few minutes today in rememberance of 9-11.
We paused in our loading of the vehicles for the return to trip to Albuquerque. We returned to Pep to pick up most of our stuff and grab Bear. Then after a nightmarish attempt at getting a bank account at B of A and some nifty banking to get a cashier's check (a whole other thread on those tasks) we headed back to Albuquerque - well, technically Bernalillo, just north of Abq about 15 miles.
We found a rental over the past weekend. It ended up being the first one we saw out of about 20 we viewed over the course of three days. It's fantastic! It is a Spanish Colonial style, 3000 sf (meaning we can unload 2, maybe all 3 of the PODS), on almost an acre of beautifully landscaped property. It is located on an old Spanish land grant, meaning that it has water rights from the Rio Grande - which is located just a hop, skip & a jump away. There are irrigation ditches all over the place and I guess at certain times we are able to raise the flood gates and 'water' our property. I will write more about that process when I learn what it's all about.
The biggest downside is that there isn't enough room for Mom & Dad's 5th Wheel - but there is a nearby city park (formerly known as Coronado State Park) and we just found a KOA. There also isn't any large shop/garage so Bryan will have to park his truck (gasp, gasp - oh the horror!) outside!!!!! Shocking, I know.
There are lots of fruit trees so it feels like home... It's also shady and has a green lawn! So much for Bryan not having to mow anymore! haha
Anyway, we are in Bernalillo now at our favorite dog-friendly motel - the Super 8. This one is pretty new and very, very clean. I recommend them, if you are traveling with pets and don't need to stay in a $300/nite hotel room. We start moving in tomorrow - the first POD should be dropped off sometime tomorrow. Oh so exciting!!!
Our first guests (Mom & Dad) will be in the following weekend on their way back from the Gallup Samboree.
I'll post pictures as soon as I have any.
God Bless and Remember 9-11.
We paused in our loading of the vehicles for the return to trip to Albuquerque. We returned to Pep to pick up most of our stuff and grab Bear. Then after a nightmarish attempt at getting a bank account at B of A and some nifty banking to get a cashier's check (a whole other thread on those tasks) we headed back to Albuquerque - well, technically Bernalillo, just north of Abq about 15 miles.
We found a rental over the past weekend. It ended up being the first one we saw out of about 20 we viewed over the course of three days. It's fantastic! It is a Spanish Colonial style, 3000 sf (meaning we can unload 2, maybe all 3 of the PODS), on almost an acre of beautifully landscaped property. It is located on an old Spanish land grant, meaning that it has water rights from the Rio Grande - which is located just a hop, skip & a jump away. There are irrigation ditches all over the place and I guess at certain times we are able to raise the flood gates and 'water' our property. I will write more about that process when I learn what it's all about.
The biggest downside is that there isn't enough room for Mom & Dad's 5th Wheel - but there is a nearby city park (formerly known as Coronado State Park) and we just found a KOA. There also isn't any large shop/garage so Bryan will have to park his truck (gasp, gasp - oh the horror!) outside!!!!! Shocking, I know.
There are lots of fruit trees so it feels like home... It's also shady and has a green lawn! So much for Bryan not having to mow anymore! haha
Anyway, we are in Bernalillo now at our favorite dog-friendly motel - the Super 8. This one is pretty new and very, very clean. I recommend them, if you are traveling with pets and don't need to stay in a $300/nite hotel room. We start moving in tomorrow - the first POD should be dropped off sometime tomorrow. Oh so exciting!!!
Our first guests (Mom & Dad) will be in the following weekend on their way back from the Gallup Samboree.
I'll post pictures as soon as I have any.
God Bless and Remember 9-11.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Killing Time by Killing Flies & Pulling Up Goatheads
I have never in my life seen so many flies as there are in Pep, NM. My parents say its due to the cattle in the area. They are awful (the flies, not the cattle)!! The more you swat the more there are - amazing really. And they BITE!!! Alot!! It hurts... Bear is like "really, you brought me here?". Poor guy. As nice as it is outside, you can't stay outside because of the flies. And when the nights get cool, they latch onto your warm car or whatever... Really, its almost fascinating if it wasn't so gross and annoying.
Bryan has spent hours swatting them.
A word on goatheads. I haven't taken a good photo of these wicked little plants but they are abundant in the Pep area (maybe all of NM). My parents are fighting a never-ending battle of getting these things eradicated from their yard. Goatheads are like grass-burrs (stickers) except they only have two stickers off of the head. They look similar to... well a goat's head. And painful - oh they hurt like a son-of-a-gun if you step on one bare-foot or stick it in a finger when you pull it up. Thus the never-ending battle of eradication. I'm all for poisoning the little buggers, but most poisons will kill all of the surrounding vegetation and that isn't good in a place that sees very little - even if most of it is 'weeds'.
An observation: most things out here stick or sting you - ferociously!! Tumbleweeds are another nemesis of my parents so as we identify goatheads (via the little yellow flowers they have) we also dig up the tumbleweeds (also stickery). Turpintine weeds - smell a bit like turpintine (hence the name), another weed that crowds out the grass and cattle won't eat.
One thing I found very cool - is that moss-rose will grow wild there. You guys in the NW may not know moss-rose but it is very popular down here. We've just always grown it in pots but as it seeds out, they spread. They are a close to the ground growing plant, almost like a ground cover and covered in bright flowers even this late in the year. It is really neat to see these happy, spots of color in an otherwise bleak pasture.
Bryan has spent hours swatting them.
A word on goatheads. I haven't taken a good photo of these wicked little plants but they are abundant in the Pep area (maybe all of NM). My parents are fighting a never-ending battle of getting these things eradicated from their yard. Goatheads are like grass-burrs (stickers) except they only have two stickers off of the head. They look similar to... well a goat's head. And painful - oh they hurt like a son-of-a-gun if you step on one bare-foot or stick it in a finger when you pull it up. Thus the never-ending battle of eradication. I'm all for poisoning the little buggers, but most poisons will kill all of the surrounding vegetation and that isn't good in a place that sees very little - even if most of it is 'weeds'.
An observation: most things out here stick or sting you - ferociously!! Tumbleweeds are another nemesis of my parents so as we identify goatheads (via the little yellow flowers they have) we also dig up the tumbleweeds (also stickery). Turpintine weeds - smell a bit like turpintine (hence the name), another weed that crowds out the grass and cattle won't eat.
One thing I found very cool - is that moss-rose will grow wild there. You guys in the NW may not know moss-rose but it is very popular down here. We've just always grown it in pots but as it seeds out, they spread. They are a close to the ground growing plant, almost like a ground cover and covered in bright flowers even this late in the year. It is really neat to see these happy, spots of color in an otherwise bleak pasture.
(Rental) House Hunting in Albuquerque and Surrounds
Hello all,
We have finally made it to Albuquerque - sorta. We came in last Friday and will leave on Tuesday so just a quick trip. We've viewed nine homes yesterday and four today. I think we have it narrowed down to two or three. One in Bernallilo, one in Placitas (both north of Abq) and then one way out in Edgewood. We (I) love, love, love the one in Bernallilo, we like the one in Placitas a lot and are so-so on the one in Edgewood. It will do what we need it to do and is a lot cheaper... but smaller but on larger land.
None have all the storage we were hoping for, I think the Bernallilo house is the largest and would accomodate most of our stuff - all the furniture plus a large garage to store most of the other stuff. We are hoping to unload (not unpack) 2-3 of the PODS so we can save on storage. It also has a place to park the camper and we might, just might be able to get Mom & Dad's 5th Wheel in there. Also has a peek-a-boo view of the Sandia's (Abq's mountain range to the east).
T
he Placitas has a place for the camper, it is on two acres and is extremely quite and peaceful - very quiet. I imagine the stars out there would be phenemonal - lots of trees in Bernallilo and its more 'in town'. Views abound in Placitas, but it is extremely hilly - no way Mom & Dad can get their 5th wheel parked there. House is a bit smaller so we'd still have two pods to pay for.
The Edgewood home is very cute, very small and no storage either. Smaller than the Placitas house, it is on 15 acres so lots of room for everyone. ;-) And the views are fantastic - they encompasses the prairies to the east, South Mountain to the north (I don't know, so don't ask me why its named that) and the back side of the Sandias to the west. It too was very quiet and peaceful. Lots of mowing on this one though... and we sold all of our mowers before we moved. But again, its the cheapests of the three. (No pics of it)
We are putting in our applications tomorrow and we'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted
We have finally made it to Albuquerque - sorta. We came in last Friday and will leave on Tuesday so just a quick trip. We've viewed nine homes yesterday and four today. I think we have it narrowed down to two or three. One in Bernallilo, one in Placitas (both north of Abq) and then one way out in Edgewood. We (I) love, love, love the one in Bernallilo, we like the one in Placitas a lot and are so-so on the one in Edgewood. It will do what we need it to do and is a lot cheaper... but smaller but on larger land.
None have all the storage we were hoping for, I think the Bernallilo house is the largest and would accomodate most of our stuff - all the furniture plus a large garage to store most of the other stuff. We are hoping to unload (not unpack) 2-3 of the PODS so we can save on storage. It also has a place to park the camper and we might, just might be able to get Mom & Dad's 5th Wheel in there. Also has a peek-a-boo view of the Sandia's (Abq's mountain range to the east).
T
he Placitas has a place for the camper, it is on two acres and is extremely quite and peaceful - very quiet. I imagine the stars out there would be phenemonal - lots of trees in Bernallilo and its more 'in town'. Views abound in Placitas, but it is extremely hilly - no way Mom & Dad can get their 5th wheel parked there. House is a bit smaller so we'd still have two pods to pay for.
The Edgewood home is very cute, very small and no storage either. Smaller than the Placitas house, it is on 15 acres so lots of room for everyone. ;-) And the views are fantastic - they encompasses the prairies to the east, South Mountain to the north (I don't know, so don't ask me why its named that) and the back side of the Sandias to the west. It too was very quiet and peaceful. Lots of mowing on this one though... and we sold all of our mowers before we moved. But again, its the cheapests of the three. (No pics of it)
We are putting in our applications tomorrow and we'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted
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