Author Archives: Patrick Lamb

Growing up in the southern New Mexico resort community of Ruidoso, my father always said he feared that some day there would be a catastrophic forest fire that raced through the canyon and destroyed much of the community. As you’ve probably been reading or hearing on electronic media, that very thing seems to have happenedContinue reading “The sum of all fears…”

The Albuquerque Journal’s Business Outlook section this week had a story about young kids — mostly teenagers on summer break — getting their first paying job. There was a lot of focus about Dion’s Pizza, which has always made an effort to hire teenagers for work in their statewide franchises (including two here in LasContinue reading “Don’t tell any of the cool guys about this…”

For reasons that probably won’t interest anyone, I have rejoined the Boy Scouts of America (soon to be renamed Scouting America) as an adult member of troop 66 in Las Cruces. In order to join, I had to pay dues and various entry fees of more than $100 and take a course called “Youth ProtectionContinue reading “Maybe I’ll compete in the Pinewood Derby…”

During World War II, Britons dubbed the German VI rocket that terrorized London as the “Doodlebug.” It alerted residents of its approach with an annoying pulsing buzzing sound from its primitive rocket motor, then became silent when the engine quit over the city and then after a few moments exploded when it crashed randomly aroundContinue reading “More than you wanted to know about doodlebugs…”

Anyone who’s been in New Mexico for a while knows about the burning of Zozobra, the effigy portraying gloom and doom that is torched every year around Labor Day during the Santa Fe Fiesta. The burning of Zozbra began in 1924 when Santa Fe artist Will Shuster decided to have a private Fiesta party inContinue reading “I guess I should have notified NTSB every time I flew…”

There was a sad story in the Albuquerque Journal last week about a young man from the Boston area who had died from ingesting too much capsicum in chile extract from participating in a “One Chip Challenge” that was circulating on social media. The story noted that the young man had a congenital heart defectContinue reading “Don’t think you can ever get enough of that great New Mexico chile? Think again…”

I’m easily entertained by people watching at airports when I’m waiting for a plane. I wonder why people are traveling, what their lives might be like and who they might vote for in the upcoming elections. (Actually, I don’t think you can guess that by mere appearance, given my experience as a voter registration clerkContinue reading “She shouldn’t be a fashion accessory…”

My wife and I have become fans of the “Father Brown” mystery series on Brit Box. A meddling Catholic priest in the mythical town of Kembleford in the Cotswold region of England is an amateur sleuth who always manages to upstage the local police in their investigations of murders in the otherwise tranquil British countryside.Continue reading “Cars eliminating human jobs…”

Imagine you come to self awareness and realize you are a rainbow trout in a 55-gallon glass prison cell. You constantly bump up against the clear walls that surround you and you endure the endless sound of buzzing machines pumping water. Each day, at least 100 scary animals, mostly small humans, peer at you quizzicallyContinue reading “The White Mountain 13 have been freed!!!”

Imagine that you’re cruising down Interstate 10 in southern New Mexico. It’s getting close to lunchtime and your Tesla’s charge is getting low. On your car’s navigation screen, a Tesla charging location pops up on the next exit in Las Cruces. You take the exit and there it is — “The Roasted Rooster” with aboutContinue reading “Would you like a doobie with those overalls?”

Warning: This blog may be as close to a political statement as I have made in my four years of writing at Aero-Cordero.com. You are welcome to click out if you don’t want to read it. If you try to get information about how to contact a local newsroom of the Ruidoso News — theContinue reading “Heeding Thomas Jefferson…”

You may recall my earlier high-level journalistic investigations into the smuggling of Mexican bologna into the state. This was prompted by stories that the processed meat from Mexico was being transported across the state’s southern border inside spare tires, beneath car seats and intermingled with underwear in suitcases. Well now the smuggling game has takenContinue reading “Would you like some special sauce with that burger?”