Latest news from Ruidoso’s White Mountain Elementary is that 32 of the trout eggs, also known as alevin, have hatched. Three more — which would bring the total to 35 of the eggs that were shipped — look like they are ready to hatch, according to teacher Rachel Lutterman.
Stay tuned for updates on the epic “Trout in the Classroom” event right here at:
Okay, it’s official. I am a new grandfather — well, if you can count a rainbow trout as a grandchild.
I got word yesterday that at least three of the 35 rainbow trout eggs we carefully placed in an aquarium in a 3rd grade classroom at White Mountain Elementary School in Ruidoso have hatched. The kids have named the newest hatchling “Alvin.”
If you’ll recall, I’m helping coordinate a Trout Unlimited “Trout in the Classroom” project at White Mountain Elementary in Ruidoso. Students will help raise Alvin and other trout to maturity in the classroom aquarium, then release them into a local lake or stream. We got the trout eggs almost two weeks ago in what was like a Pony Express delivery during a snow storm. It all worked out, and it’s all going well at this point.
But special thanks to the third graders who helped Alvin get to this point, and to the wonderful team of teachers, headed by Michelle Thurston and Rachel Lutterman, to make this all happen.
Stay tuned for more “Alvin and Friends” updates.
As a marketer, I often studied cases focusing on life-cycles of maturing industries and products. The product cycle curve is bell shaped, where best opportunities for profit and growth are early in the beginning of the industry or product. By the end of the cycle, there is deep discounting, increasing competition and declining sales and profits.
In New Mexico, I think the cannabis industry went straight from the introduction cycle to the decline stage.
As of the latest data, New Mexico has 1,063 cannabis dispensaries in the state, which has a population of 2.1 million. Compare that to Colorado, with a population of 5.8 million and only 670 cannabis outlets. For New Mexico, that works out to approximately one marijuana dispensary for every 1,975 persons. In Colorado, the numbers work out to one dispensary for every 8,656 persons.
On recent trips in southern New Mexico, I noticed some signs indicating the state of the industry in the state.
One sign said:”We price match.” Another said: “Watch for our daily specials.” And a third said: “Special Discounts for Seniors.”
Deep discounting is apparently already happening and I’ve noticed several stores that have already closed or never got opened. One is just a few blocks north of where we live on Main Street that was stillborn. The entire building, which used to be a liquor store, was painted in a gruesome black and had bold graphics on the sides of the building and the sign, apparently in hopes of a booming business just off Interstate 10. It never opened, despite what I assume was thousands of dollars spent on the paint job and remodeling of the interior.
I’m not going to comment on whether you think we should or shouldn’t have recreational marijuana. What was interesting to me is that none of the vendors seem to have taken the time to analyze market opportunities and that they made the blind assumption that everyone in New Mexico was “all in” on smoking pot.
Last year, marijuana vendors pleaded with state officials to limit the number of outlets in the state — yet another sign of a maturing industry reaching out to the government to help buoy it.
And to me, the great tragedy of this is that no one — as yet to my knowledge — has opened a dispensary in Weed, New Mexico.
My wife said the whole process sounded like a Pony Express delivery from the 1800s. Only it wasn’t mail that was being delivered — it was rainbow trout eggs.
On the evening of Feb. 11, a batch of freshly fertilized eggs was shipped by truck during a snow storm from a New Mexico Department of Game and Fish hatchery in northern New Mexico at Mora to another NMDG&F hatchery a little further south in Pecos. The next morning, another truck took the eggs from the Pecos hatchery to a distribution point in Albuquerque. From there, the eggs headed south to Ruidoso and then what was left went to Alamogordo.
I’ve written a couple of blogs earlier about the project at White Mountain Elementary School to allow third graders to watch the process of how trout eggs hatch into fry, then grow into adult-sized fish and then get released into local clean cold waters somewhere in the vicinity of Ruidoso. Alamogordo High School is doing a similar program in a science class.
Despite my concerns about the tight delivery schedule and the snow storm, the eggs showed up on time ready to be placed in the 55-gallon tank in the third-grade classroom of teacher Michelle Thurston. The NMDG&F delivered 35 healthy looking peach-colored eggs about half the size of salmon eggs.
Thurston and the other enthusiastic third grade teachers came up with the idea to participate in Trout Unlimited’s “Trout in the Classroom” (TIC) program, which is designed to help young students understand the importance of clean cold-water streams and lakes in the United States. They held fund-raisers to buy most of the equipment needed to raise the fish. The equipment includes a chiller to keep the water temperature at a steady 45-55 degrees, a water filter, an aerator to keep the water oxygenated and various chemicals to test the quality of the water. As secretary of the Gila/Rio Grande Chapter of Trout Unlimited, I volunteered to help facilitate the program and donated the 55- gallon tank to the school.
And so, like an anxious father, I’m awaiting news of the hatch, which should happen in about two and one-half weeks. I’ll send out a birth announcement and maybe smoke a cigar in celebration.
The last time I flew a hot air balloon was about a year ago. It wasn’t much of a flight — just three short hops on vacant field to get current (the FAA required three take offs and landings every 90 days.) At this time, I’m no longer current and I also need to do a biennial flight review to be fully qualified.
I’ve also released my half-interest in my balloon Aero Cordero, so I no longer have my own ride. The envelope was getting pretty old and porous anyway, so it was time to say goodbye to it.
However, last weekend, I helped facilitate balloon club fly in which has been held traditionally over the Martin Luther King weekend in Las Cruces. At one time, as a fully organized rally, it drew 50 hot air balloons from around the region. This year’s event had eight balloons, but it was still enjoyable for me to get back in touch with many friends in the ballooning community and be part of the event. I crewed one day for a long-time pilot and friend, Jim Hoidal.
I’m attaching some photos from the fly-in. All were taken by a local photographer, Victor Gibbs, and I’ve posted a link below to his site to view all of the images he captured over the two-day event.
https://adventuring.smugmug.com/Las-Cruces-Hot-Air-Balloon
As I’ve done for many years at this event, I did the weather briefing for the pilots. Winds for the Saturday flight were a bit iffy, but four of the balloons flew. On Sunday, conditions improved and six of the pilots had great long-lasting flights over the north and eastern sides of Las Cruces.
I do miss flying occasionally, but after 35 years of doing it, it was just time to quit. I’m sure I would have no problem piloting, but because of various medications I need to take after my heart surgery three years ago, it’s best I don’t risk any regulatory issues that might arise if there was an incident.
I’m glad to say that in my 35 years of flying, the only injury that ever occurred to one of my passengers was a tiny fracture of a woman’s pinky finger on one of the softest landings I ever made. The woman was the wife of an orthopedic surgeon, and she didn’t even know she had the minor injury until several weeks later.
I skipped writing anything last week because we were really tired. We are still recovering from almost two weeks of fun with grandkids and adult children (who we love very much), but it’s a lot of work and stress as we get “gracefully older. “
I’ll begin by ranting that the Albuquerque Journal did not publish its annual “Cow Chip” awards for silly things that go on in New Mexico during the year. I’ve mentioned things in my blogs that I discovered in previous years’ Cow Chip awards. Memorable events included the time a State Police officer was caught on a dash cam having sex on the hood of his police cruiser (while he was still “mostly” in uniform) as a random Chihuahua dog observed the activity. There was also the time that the inaugural run of the Rail Runner commuter train was delayed after it hit a wandering cow between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. And who could forget the incident in which an Albuquerque city bus driver smacked into the rear of a car in front of him while munching on his burrito. And of course, there was video of a port-a-potty navigating traffic on Central Avenue in Albuquerque during a spring windstorm.
As a backup plan, you can always turn to Dave Barry’s “Year in Review,” which manages to skewer everyone, including politicians on both sides of the aisle, for learning about dumb things that happened during the year. This year, he warns us that the two greatest threats we face in the future are pickleball and Artificial Intelligence.
The link is below:
Finally, my new year’s resolutions this year are to play more golf, go fly fishing more and weed out the thousands of coffee mugs we have accumulated over the years from various vendors, places we worked, events, relatives and national Television News Show appearances (okay, just kidding on that last one).
Hope your 2024 is a good year for you and that you are not overcome by pickleball madness or artificial intelligence.
(Now where did I stash that coffee mug I was given at the 2001 Roswell Old Timers’ Hot Air Balloon Rally?)
I read an interesting article in the New York Times online edition recently about how skiing has become so expensive in recent years, mostly because of the monopoly of two giant corporations which have acquired ski resorts around the United States. One or two of those areas are in New Mexico.
I realize I’m sounding more and more like Andy Rooney from the old CBS 60 Minutes program these days, but I remember the good old days.
When you were in college, you could still find a $5 daily ski pass at what is now Pajarito Mountain outside Los Alamos — a “secret” ski area in the once secret town where the atomic bomb was developed. There was one chairlift and the vertical drop was probably no more than 750 vertical feet, but you could ski all day, then grab a bowl of “Danny’s Chili” for $1.25 and wash it down with some Buckhorn Beer that sold for 99 cents a six pack. What a deal.
I also remember that just four years ago, anyone over the age of 70 could get a free season ski pass at Ski Apache. Now it costs you $600. A daily pass for someone my age is $57 and for an adult, it’s $110. When I was in high school, just after the ski area opened, we had a program at our school that allowed us to count skiing as our PE requirement. We’d get off every Wednesday afternoon and go to the ski area where we could get lift tickets, instruction and rental equipment for about $10. What a deal.
Making the high ticket cost at Ski Apache even worse is the fact that much of the mountain has been scarred by a terrible forest fire a few years ago. Trees that used to protect slopes from losing snow in gusty winds are gone. At least one major lift is no longer operating because of the fire. And climate change has led to fewer and fewer good snow years on the mountain. Yet, we continue to pay more and more for less and less satisfaction on the slopes.
The New York Times story says that the average cost for a father and mother and their two kids to go skiing for one day in a major resort is now about $500. The article says that skiing is becoming more and more of an elitist sport, similar to what it has been in Europe for many years.
I’m okay with capitalism, but it seems that we’re in a pattern where the incredibly rich just keep taking things away from us that we all enjoyed when we were younger. Some of the best fly fishing waters where I once was able to go for free are now controlled by private landowners. A cheap round of golf is becoming a thing of the past in many places. A visit to Disneyland is almost becoming out of reach for many familes.
Well, I’m not going to give up. This coming year, my goal is to go fishing more, play more golf and yes, go skiing at least one or two more times.
And have I mentioned my plan to develop heavy duty drones with grappling hooks buzzing around ski areas to help older skiers like me get up after a fall? I’ll provide more details later, but I’m fearful some rich guy will beat me to it and it will end up making them a lot of money for my swell idea.
It happens every year right before Christmas. A frantic search for votive candles and the right size paper lunch bags. I start looking for candles in July every year, knowing that the shelves where they can usually be found are stripped bare by the 15th of December.
And while paper bags are not quite as difficult to find, I still find myself making mental notes of where I can find the best ones — not too large and not too small. And most importantly, quality that makes it wasy to fold them.
In our home, while I watch football games and my wife bakes multiple varieties of cookies, I am in charge of folding the tops on our luminaria bags that we put out every Christmas eve. The folding operation, as I’m sure many of you know, is a somewhat delicate procedure. The bags rip easily and you have to train your thumbs to turn down the top of the bag just so in order to have the perfect amount of fold at the top.
But what I have noticed this year is the annoying sound of the folding process that makes it difficult to hear what’s happening in the football game you’re watching or my wife’s attempts at conversation while she is baking.
New Mexico has an official state question (red or green), an official state odor (roasting green chile), an official necktie (bolo), official vegetables (chile and pinto beans) and other nonsensical officialities. So why not an official sound of a New Mexico Christmas — the crunching, crinkling sound of folding luminaria bags.
Okay, that’s a stretch, so I’ll end my Christmas musings with you by sharing my version of a New Mexico Night Before Christmas and hope you readers have a wonderful holiday season.
T’was the night before Christmas in New Mexico
And everywhere luminarias were starting to glow.
The stockings were hung by the horno with care
In hopes that Pancho Claus soon would be there.
Outside on the porch, ristras swayed in the breeze
And as the sun dipped down, it was starting to freeze
Los ninos were dreaming, all warm in their beds
And swung at pinatas that danced in their heads
Mamma and Chester were snoozing away
In a bed that left me no room to lay
So I sat in a chair watching the pinon fire die
When I heard a strange noise coming down from the sky
I ran to the back door to look out on the lawn
Which was soft and white from a snowfall at dawn
We don’t get much snow in the desert, you see
So the view outside was exciting to me.
Then suddenly I spotted something that was even more to behold
It was pack of coyotes with a wooden cart in tow
In front of the coyotes with a beak that was red
Was Rudy the roadrunner, who was always ahead
And driving the cart was a fat jolly man
Wearing a sombrero and a waving his hand
It was Pancho Clause, of that I was sure
And he called to his coyotes as they ran in a blur
“Now Pedro, now Carlos, Jose and Miguel,
On Cisco, Jesus, Juan and Manuel
Over the mesquite bush, don’t linger and stall
Through cactus and sand dunes, now dash away all”
So up on my casa the coyotes flew
With a cart full of toys and Pancho Claus too
And a noise from above gave me a start
Coyotes howling as he stepped off his cart
He slid down the chimney with his bag full of toys
And began his work without any noise.
He wore a pony tail at the back of his head
And his velvet Navajo shirt was a cheery red
His shirt was laced up with fine goatskin leather
And his face was rugged from the Southwestern weather
His eyes were like turquoise, his dimples so sweet
His nose and his cheeks were like red chile heat
The steam from from a pot of posole in la cocina
Formed a shape over his head that looked like a Zia
He was a true Land of Enchantment elf
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself
But seeing his smile, I knew I had nothing to dread
Knowing that soon I would be back in my bed
He said “Ya-ta-hey” to me as he started to work
Filling up the stockings, then turned with a jerk
He’d noticed biscochitos we’d left him for a snack
And stuffed a few of them for later in his pack
Then before I could blink, back up the chimney he went
Leaving only the smell of a sweet pinon scent
He sprang into his cart, gave his coyotes a shout
And was gone just like that, to the next hacienda, no doubt
But I heard him call as his cart flew away
“Feliz Navidad, In New Mexico we say.”
A new type of restaurant opened in the last couple of weeks in Las Cruces that calls itself “The Roasted Rooster.”
Its specialty is waffles and chicken, but they have several other things on the menu, including an odd-sounding green chile and cheese waffle. The chicken is baked, not fried as you would expect from a regular chicken and waffle menu item, and the waffles are a kind of soggy whole wheat variety.
What is interesting about the place is that it has 15 spaces to plug in your Tesla while you await your order at the restaurant. In fact, there are more parking spaces for Teslas than there are for regular cars that rely on that oh-so-yesterday fossil fuel. There is a drive-up window where idling gasoline powered vehicles can spew carbon-based gunk into the air while they wait a long time for their chicken and waffle combo to be hatched, baked and toasted.
I think it’s actually an interesting marketing concept. It’s located right next to busy Interstate 10 — just block from either the west or east-bound lanes. And the menu seems to be geared towards people I think would most likely buy a Tesla — lots of vegetarian options with recyclable serving accoutrements.
However, I think there’s one flaw with the operation. It was built adjacent to the city’s sewer processing station and waste disposal site. On a windless, cold evening with a temperature inversion pressing the atmosphere close to the ground, the smell around the surrounding area is — well (if you’ll pardon the pun) — fowl.
So if you’re caged at the Roasted Rooster on one of those nights for one to two hours while your Tesla gets charged, you may lose your appetite (or worse) while you wait. I’m sure many Tesla drivers will not have a fond memory of their stop in Las Cruces if they require a charge on one of those days.
There are other dining options nearby if Tesla drivers are willing to “cross the road to get to the other side” and visit the nearby Shell or Pilot truck stops. But of course, you may be forced to smell diesel exhaust fumes while waiting there. And maybe you’ll figure out the answer to that age old question.
A couple of quick updates for my readers.
First, my good friend from Albuquerque, Ken Tabish, and I got the fish tank filled and running this week at White Mountain Elementary School in Ruidoso.
If you’ll recall, Trout Unlimited sponsors programs to allow elementary or middle school students to raise trout in a large aquariums in their classrooms for eventual release into nearby cold streams or lakes. The program is designed to help kids appreciate the need for clean cold waters in the United States, take part in the process to raise trout in their own classroom and encourage them to participate in fishing.
I will help in the process to bring rainbow trout eggs from the Lisboa Springs hatchery in northern New Mexico to Ruidoso in mid January and put them in the tank we have been preparing. The third graders will be able to see the eggs hatch into fry and then grow into a size that can be released into nearby waters late this spring. The students, who are very excited about the program, will be on hand to see the fish they helped raise be released into the wild.
The New Mexico council of Trout Unlimited received some very good news this week that its request had been approved for a $40,000 grant to expand the Trout in the Classroom program at other schools around the state. The grant was from the newly created New Mexico Outdoor Equity Fund to encourage outdoor recreation and conservation projects around the state.
Other schools around southern New Mexico are hoping to get Trout in the Classroom projects going next year, including Mesilla Park Elementary in Las Cruces and G.W. Stout Elementary School in Silver City. Schools in Alamogordo and Artesia have also expressed an interest in starting programs.
As the project progresses, I’ll give you updates.
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On another subject, I’m glad to report that the intersection of Interstate 25 north and Interstate 10 east has FINALLY been reopened. I ranted in an earlier post about how long it had taken the New Mexico Department of transportation to repair this important interchange between two major U.S. Interstate highways. An accident on July 21 caused damage to an overpass from I-10 to I-25, but it took five months to get the work done. I am still convinced that if this kind of interchange had been damaged in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, a repair would have been completed in significantly less time.
I the last few years, I’ve taken an interest in reading newspaper obituaries of people I’ve never heard of or known. I think it’s a natural curiosity about people’s lives that comes from my background in journalism to gather information. My wife says when I’m introduced to new people, I often end up “interviewing” them like I would do when preparing a story. I’m interested to learn what they contributed to the world, what fascinated them, why they ended up in New Mexico, where else they might have lived and unexpected things about their lives.
Last week, my wife found an interesting claim in an obituary printed in our local newspaper. It was about a 96-year-old resident of Dona Ana County, Leandro “Chino” Chavez. The obituary said Chavez served in World War II and was a lifelong farmer in the Mesilla Valley. The obituary went on to say he had “a very good mechanical sense” and is “credited in designing and the building the first chile roaster.”
“Being the modest person that he was, he claimed it was “probably” the first (chile roaster) as he had never heard of one being built before his,” the obituary said.
My hat is off to Chino for developing that and making mass chile roasting possible.
Before the invention of the roaster, the process was probably done on simple flat grills that made roasting uneven because of the gnarled nature of most chile pods. The roaster seems to have solved that problem by allowing them to tumble randomly in a cage that exposes the pods to a hot flame on all surfaces.
But perhaps the best benefit of roasters is the massive production of that great green chile roasting aroma that permeates New Mexico from August through September and beyond.
So next fall, when you smell that uniquely New Mexico odor, thank Chino Chavez for his contribution.
Imagine that a 911 operator gets this phone call from a frantic woman in Questa in northern New Mexico:
“Please send the fire department and an ambulance. My kitchen is on fire. The grease from cooking tortillas caught my curtains on fire and splashed hot liquid on my arms!!!”
The response from the 911 operator:
“Okay, hang in there. We’ll be at your house in about five and one half hours.”
Am I prone to exaggeration yet again?
Well check out the photo below, taken in our neighborhood this morning.
I’m hoping this is a surplus vehicle awaiting transformation into a food truck or handy man’s carry all. If not, there will be some very anxious folks awaiting a 911 response in that almost-in-Colorado town.
I looked up the driving distance and time between here Questa and found that it could be up to five hours and 42 minutes, depending on traffic to cover the 277 miles. That doesn’t include stops for gas, snacks and to use the restroom.
The house where I spotted this vehicle has had some other strange things in the driveway in the past. Check out this bargain Tacoma, only needing a set and wheels to drive it away.
I kind of hope that the Questa Fire Department and Ambulance wagon turns in to a local food truck. I’d keep the same paint job, sirens and flashing lights for a real marketing statement. Just think of it — Mexican food so hot that you need an ambulance on call after chowing down that enchilada or chile relleno.
Sports venues around the nation have long been given nicknames by fans. There’s “The Pit” in Albuquerque, home for the University of New Mexico basketball team. The Albuquerque Isotopes baseball team has played for years in “The Lab.” In Las Cruces, we have “The Field of Dreams” for our joint-use high school football stadium. And of course, there are the “Big House” and “The Horseshoe” for Big 10 football rivals Michigan and Ohio State.
At New Mexico State University, our football stadium has been known only as “Aggie Memorial Stadium.”
However, recent events have made me think we should rename the facility as “The Menagerie,” “The Farm” or maybe “The Zoo.”
At last Saturday’s football game, won by the Aggies with a last-minute field goal, not all the drama was on the field. It seems that at some point during the game, a skunk wandered into the bleachers and paraded amongst the fans.
A season ticket holder named Laura Justus captured the video below of the wandering skunk, which was posted on a Tweet by Athletic Director Mario Moccia, who proclaimed the critter as the Aggie “Rally Skunk.”
Was anyone tracking on the Aggies own “Rally Skunk” at Saturdays @NMStateFootball game? Laura Justus season tx holder provided the video!! @NMStateAggies NATION we have a new live mascot 🦨😂 pic.twitter.com/0uuuHhL7LX
— Mario Moccia (@MarioMocciaNMSU) November 27, 2023
It was interesting that the animal from the Mephitidae family trotted right underneath a woman’s legs during the game. Neither the skunk nor the woman seemed to be overly excited about the intrusion.
It brings to mind other animal related events at the stadium.
A few years ago, construction at the stadium had to be halted when workers discovered a colony of burrowing owls inside a grassy area. The birds were captured and relocated to a more appropriate living space.
For a while, we had a horse carrying Pistol Pete rumble into the stadium at the start of each game. I’m not sure why that tradition was discontinued, but it was probably because it was too dangerous for the horse running on the artificial turf. Or it might have been that a young woman was once knocked to the ground when the horse rushed by her as the animal and Pistol Pete entered the stadium.
And then of course, there have been the Border Collie “Wonder Dogs” who retrieve the kicking tee after each Aggie kickoff at the stadium. The first dog was named “Smoki,” the next was “Striking and the current pooch is “Wave.”
Wave had a little more attention during the final game of this season when a member of the opposing football team seemed to be rushing onto the field to grab the tee before the dog could get to it. Wave, however, persevered and continued his tradition of entertaining the fans by retrieving the tee.
Here’s a link to a story about Wave from the Las Cruces Sun News.
Wave also has his own Facebook page and you can buy t-shirts with his image on it.
I hope Wave, the horse, the owls and now the skunk can work an NIL deal with the Athletic Department — they’ve certainly made going to the stadium more entertaining.
*NIL (Name, Image and Likeness). An NCAA rule which allows student athletes to make some money from use of their name, their image or a likeness of them by businesses.
I followed with great interest a story out of California earlier this month about a fire that had severely damaged an overpass on Interstate 10 in Los Angles.
Initial analysis by naysayers said it could be weeks or maybe months to get the heavily traveled section of one of America’s most important east-west routes repaired. But recognizing the importance of the highway link, can-do California Caltrans workers had the section of road back in operation in about a week.
I recall a similar story from back East in which a section of a major north-south Interstate had been damaged. Again, initial estimates by pessimists were that the road could be closed for months to repair. Yet, when officials recognized the gravity of the situation, traffic was given a quickly re-worked alternate route and permanent repair work may already be done.
In our Land of Manana, things don’t move that quickly.
In early July, a truck smacked into an overpass linking Interstate 10 with northbound Interstate 25 on the southeast side of Las Cruces. The truck, carrying some kind of fuel, then dumped the flammable liquid on the roadway and created a major conflaguration on the roadway and next to the buttress supporting the flyover.
So here we are five months later, and the repair work still hasn’t been completed. This is not part of a dirt county road near Chamberino, this is a major east-west Interstate and the major north-south Interstate through the West.
To add insult to injury, the lack of the link has not been well communicated to drivers on east-bound Interstate 10 who join I-10 at the South Main exit. By the time you get to the warning sign that the exit is no longer available, it’s too late. At that point the only option is to drive south by about 5 miles and do a loop around at the Mesquite exit — an annoying 10 mile “detour” that I’m sure had many drivers spewing expletives at the experience.
I became so annoyed with the lack of progress that I wrote e-mails to the New Mexico Department of Transportation, including the District Engineer for this part of the state. I learned that we do not currently have a member of the Transportation Commission representing this part of the state — the position apparently has been vacant for some time.
I got responses, but of course it was the usual:
“It’s a very complicated project and we’ve moving ahead as fast as we can, blah blah blah blah.”
There were newer responses by the Department of Transportation posted on an El Paso TV station’s website. Among things reported:
“The environmental cleanup took longer than expected” (interpretation — we ran out of Dawn dishwasher soap).
“We ended up having to get somebody on contract to do the repairs. (Well, um — isn’t repairing highways one of the main jobs of the Department of Transportation?)
“The problem was… getting the materials to us.” (interpretation — the burro cart with a load of cement was held up by banditos near Spaceport America.)
I can virtually assure you that if this damaged overpass had been in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, the repair project would have been completed months ago. But here in southern New Mexico, the true land of manana, we’ ve become accustomed to things moving very slowly.
I suspect the original construction was done with adobe bricks, bailing wire, duct tape and straw. I think the adobe for the repair project is still curing in the sun while we await the appointment of a new commissioner for our district, who I am SURE will speed this project along.
aero-cordero.com