tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89996482907611463462024-03-05T00:50:55.287-07:00Reid’s InterwebsbloggReidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.comBlogger463125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-30638622289112497062022-10-18T08:29:00.000-06:002022-10-19T03:03:21.581-06:00Photo PostCouple of photos from the backlog. Haven't been making many lately - too much work going on. Bleah.
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9wve-MuZbRAB_eHh9NdO0B-WR42lzTmDiexKSSHNmAwuXbHkTJtJ3DDI9lnxlDiiFWEfEwYpD5CFrhyphenhyphenj7c4iM8zVauCvnu6Ht9FqF3iUwTlOtOM4n-NTBJzUB6Fx6DgqyTXTh-7NSZw/s1600/01150.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9wve-MuZbRAB_eHh9NdO0B-WR42lzTmDiexKSSHNmAwuXbHkTJtJ3DDI9lnxlDiiFWEfEwYpD5CFrhyphenhyphenj7c4iM8zVauCvnu6Ht9FqF3iUwTlOtOM4n-NTBJzUB6Fx6DgqyTXTh-7NSZw/s400/01150.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474616379602472418" border="0" /></a>
<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhF9Q5p8lpIU6Gi0S56BoKpSZqSrEzL57D0q5sWh5AQaeOdMMSXYPPVi667u_yy0aB8QEnC3MvOezheNDTIdxEAs8tp-8tB1acapWih_lea1funuiIjntD1jJJcJyWb43w_xrIM8mhQ/s1600/01153.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhF9Q5p8lpIU6Gi0S56BoKpSZqSrEzL57D0q5sWh5AQaeOdMMSXYPPVi667u_yy0aB8QEnC3MvOezheNDTIdxEAs8tp-8tB1acapWih_lea1funuiIjntD1jJJcJyWb43w_xrIM8mhQ/s400/01153.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474617165376354818" border="0" /></a>Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-68985001952936355192013-03-31T17:10:00.001-06:002013-03-31T17:10:07.738-06:00HD home movies from Los Alamos during WWIIIt turns out there are some very high quality home movies from Los Alamos during the war years.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='560' height='316' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/oV33Pg-qL6c?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Based on the LA-UR number, they weren't released until 2011. I wonder if there are more? I'd assume the fellow shot more than 11 minutes of video.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-78654908952516768702013-03-20T21:10:00.001-06:002013-03-20T21:10:29.535-06:00New Mexico already has marriage equality?There’s an interesting sudden flap regarding marriage equality here in New Mexico. The mayor of Santa Fe and one of the city councilors, as well as the city attorney, apparently looked at our marriage laws and <a href="http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/article_a9e2eedf-977d-5b8a-bc36-afcf35c31ee2.html">concluded that they are gender-neutral</a>. On the other hand, both the Santa Fe and Los Alamos county clerks (the latter a Republican) <a href="http://www.lamonitor.com/content/santa-fe-leaders-push-gay-marriage">don’t buy it</a>.<br />
<br />
I actually read New Mexico Statute 40-1, which is about marriage and not very long. I’m not a lawyer, but I saw no reference to the gender of spouses except in Section <a href="http://statutes.laws.com/new-mexico/chapter-40/article-1/section-40-1-18">40-1-18</a> (not 40-1-8 as claimed in the <i>Monitor</i> article linked above), which lays out the proper form for a marriage license application; this refers to “male applicant” and “female applicant” as well as “bride” and “groom”. The argument that these labels simply reflect tradition rather than an actual proscription of gender seems quite plausible to me.<br />
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I hope a courageous same-sex couple steps up soon to demand a marriage license. What fun if it happened in Los Alamos.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-22726322874692536822013-01-20T19:50:00.000-07:002013-01-20T19:50:33.157-07:00Rackspace triple failFor several years I had a virtual server with Slicehost. They were great. Then, Slicehost was bought out by Rackspace. They are... not quite as good. Among other things, Slicehost let me set an alternate e-mail address in case my reidster.net address doesn’t work for some reason, but Rackspace doesn’t.<br />
<br />
Anyway, a couple of days ago I received an e-mail from Rackspace saying my credit card was expiring. Thanks, I’ll go update it. This led to a series of brown-paper-bag failures....<br />
<br />
<b>Fail #1</b><br />
<br />
One of the things that drives me batty is websites that don’t let you type in the credit card number with spaces. I like to proofread the number before I submit (shocking, I know); this is far more difficult with an unbroken series of 16 digits rather than the 4 groups of 4 that’s on the card.<br />
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This is particularly annoying because it’s <i>literally</i> one line of code to strip out the spaces before processing, no matter what language your site is implemented in.<br />
<br />
Rackspace is indeed one of these obnoxious websites (and to boot their error message is particularly vague — just says the number is “invalid”), but they’re a youngish internet company, so maybe they’d be willing to make the fix.<br />
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<b>Fail #2</b><br />
<br />
The expiration notice had an e-mail address for questions, billing@rackspace.com. Great! I replied with a quick note asking them to fix the credit card number issue.<br />
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Oops, it bounced due to a problem somewhere in the bowels of their support system:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<pre wrap="">Reporting-MTA: dns; mx1.ord1.rackspace.com
Final-Recipient: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:rfc822;mosso-billing@tickets.stabletransit.com">rfc822;mosso-billing@tickets.stabletransit.com</a>
Action: failed
Status: 5.0.0 (permanent failure)
Diagnostic-Code: smtp; 5.1.2 - Bad destination host 'DNS Hard Error looking up tickets.stabletransit.com (MX): NXDomain' (delivery attempts: 0)</pre>
</blockquote>
This should never happen. A responsible company has monitoring systems in place to ensure that such failures are discovered before they are visible to customers.<br />
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Also, that DNS lookup works fine for me:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<pre wrap="">$ host tickets.stabletransit.com
tickets.stabletransit.com has address 209.61.177.249
tickets.stabletransit.com mail is handled by 5 mail.tickets.stabletransit.com.
$ host mail.tickets.stabletransit.com
mail.tickets.stabletransit.com has address 209.61.177.249 </pre>
</blockquote>
<b>Fail #3</b><br />
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Now there’s two problems, one really quite embarrassing. Maybe there’s an alternate way to complain? I see on their website they have live chat, but I don’t want to waste time with that; I want to send a note and be done.<br />
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I see they have a web form. Great! But.... their anti-spam widget is a little too enthusiastic:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwF9uOpmnK8tZe0JDBlM4gnt1Qu3FQsHJ02hZz9BMc-nXLzVsotNhwZQKBmzmJrA_J4gaARSkVH932HwhoGlsZ250moVIOfuInl-V8UazYmuFlsNm-K7W1XAnrAixTG7vmnd44lW-WUg/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-01-20+at+12.39.41+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwF9uOpmnK8tZe0JDBlM4gnt1Qu3FQsHJ02hZz9BMc-nXLzVsotNhwZQKBmzmJrA_J4gaARSkVH932HwhoGlsZ250moVIOfuInl-V8UazYmuFlsNm-K7W1XAnrAixTG7vmnd44lW-WUg/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-01-20+at+12.39.41+PM.png" /></a></div>
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This is with Firefox 18, Adblock turned off (not that either of those things should matter).<br />
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And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how your company can change simple e-mail suggestions into negative blog posts for all the world to see. <br />
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Now, there’s a lot of friction in moving a VPS from one vendor to another. But maybe I should be looking anyway. Suggestions?Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-55938519403569837892013-01-01T13:54:00.001-07:002013-01-01T13:54:24.493-07:00Regarding Los Alamos open space<ul>
</ul>
Los Alamos has hired some trail consultants to produce a trails master plan. I attended a working group meeting in early December to discuss the matter. This post outlines some ideas on Los Alamos open space and what I think we ought to do. (My <a href="http://blog.reidster.net/2012/12/where-should-los-alamos-put-bike-park.html">previous post</a> on the topic addressed a specific proposal for a bike park.)<br />
<br />
I’ll open with some of my observations about the state of open space in Los Alamos, and then propose some guiding principles based on those. Finally, I offer a smorgasbord of specific policy recommendations.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Observations</b></span><br />
<br />
I grew up in Los Alamos, left for 12 years when I graduated from high school, and returned a year ago. I love the outdoors and spend as much time outside as I can. Given that context, here’s what I’ve noticed:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>We have extraordinary and unique open space.</b> Los Alamos County has 11,000-foot mountains, large and small tuff canyons, large and small basalt canyons, ponderosa forests, spruce/fir forests, piñon-juniper forests, meadows, mountain and canyon streams, mesas, the Rio Grande, a national monument, tremendous views, and much much more. What I find most amazing is how intimately Los Alamos proper is embedded in this open space: the canyons in the middle of town mean that most anyone has access within a few minutes walk to places that may be a stone’s throw from someone’s back yard but feel like they’re in the middle of nowhere. Few, if any, other towns in the world have what we have.</li>
<li><b>Our open space is at risk.</b> For example, in my own memory, large blocks of county forest that I spent considerable time in were lost to development (Ponderosa Estates and Quemazon), and there are continual pressures for development such as the recent <a href="http://blog.reidster.net/search?q=golf+course">golf course flap</a>. Forest Service land abutting the town has no particular protections, and there’s precedent for transferring it to others. LANL can develop its open space as it wishes.</li>
<li><b>We have an access problem.</b> While there’s quite a lot of nearby open space we have great access to, it turns out there’s also a lot we don’t, for various reasons. For example, DOE land, pueblo land, and the Valle Grande are wholly or partially off limits. When a home turns over or new homes are built, traditional access to the woods through the private land can be lost. Also, trails on DOE land are frequently closed; as a scientific and security institution with various amusing political pressures, LANL is understandably not all that interested in managing for recreation.</li>
<li><b>Our town is too dependent on the lab.</b> Los Alamos is a one-company town, and its economic health is tightly entangled with LANL and the vagaries of its federal funding stream. In trying to move past that and seek economic stability, we should find our competitive advantage: what can we offer that others can’t? Retail development that <a href="http://www.ladailypost.com/content/chat-pet-pangaea-owner-cyndi-wells">excludes local business</a> certainly isn’t the answer; maybe an outdoor-focused economy is.</li>
</ul>
The point being: our open space has tremendous value, and community policy should reflect that.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
Principles</b></span><br />
<br />
Any robust policy or plan needs to have a small number of guiding principles. In the case of Los Alamos County open space policy, I propose these three:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Preservation.</b> Open Space should be preserved in its natural state, and existing impacts should be mitigated.</li>
<li><b>Access.</b> Human access for non-motorized recreation should be provided to the maximum reasonable extent. Any limitations on access or activities, whether based on ecology, security, politics, or otherwise, should be as focused as possible.</li>
<li><b>Collaboration.</b> Los Alamos County should work with nearby land owners, large and small, to build an integrated ecosystem of open space that works towards the above two principles.</li>
</ol>
As an aside, these highlight a key flaw in the focus of the meeting I attended: <i>any master plan should not be about trails</i>. It should be about open space. Trail planning is only part of that.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Some recommendations</b></span><br />
<br />
Given the above principles, here are some things that I believe we as a community ought to do. To start, we need some policy changes:<br />
<ul>
<li>Add to the county’s strategic plan a specific acknowledgement of the value of Los Alamos open space and the above principles.</li>
<li>Rezone unbuilt county land in a way that preserves its natural character in perpetuity.</li>
<li>Compute and publish open space metrics to compare our access to open space to other communities. For example, a common metric is something like “miles of trail within <i>N</i> minutes’ walk of the average home”; I don’t care for this one because I believe the focus on trails is wrong, as I’ve noted above. Rather, how about something like “acres of open space within 1 mile of the average home”?</li>
</ul>
Also, the county should initiate collaboration efforts with nearby landowners and other interests; for example: <br />
<ul>
<li>Seek federal protections for Forest Service land adjacent to town. Wilderness designation is one option, though perhaps not appropriate here because it prohibits mountain bikes. But there must be something that protects Forest Service land from development and the impact of motorized access.</li>
<li>Work with DOE to secure non-motorized recreational access to DOE land (e.g., in Los Alamos Canyon). This could include targeted land transfer requests, or perhaps the county could take over trail management and the corresponding liability for targeted lands, leaving security responsibilities with LANL. (This would better align institutional incentives with open space access.)</li>
<li>Seek easements through yards to access open space. For example, at Arizona Ave. & Club Road and the terminus of San Ildefonso Road on North Mesa. This should be low pressure — if a given homeowner isn’t interested, that’s fine, and the county should not continue to bother him or her. Nearby properties may also be options. However, the county should also maintain a list of desired access points and approach new owners when targeted properties turn over.</li>
</ul>
Finally, here are some things we should build or do:<br />
<ul>
<li>Write a comprehensive, long-term master plan for trails. This is apparently in the works — i.e., the county is actually spending money on it — which is great!</li>
<li>Mark the trails better, to distinguish officially maintained county trails from social trails. Ideas include:</li>
<ul>
<li>Classier signs. Right now trails are marked with tacky fiberglass stakes; let’s instead put up nice wooden, metal, or stone ones that reflect the quality of our trail network.</li>
<li>An official county cairn, perhaps in two variants (main trail and access). We could have a multi-stage public contest to produce robust, easy-to-build, recognizable designs that can be constructed in any local environment.</li>
<li>Improved printing on trailhead kiosks; currently, all but the newest ones have severe fading problems. Also, kiosks need an easy-to-read locator map with a “you are here” indicator.</li>
</ul>
<li>Complete the Perimeter Trail. Currently you can go from roughly the cemetery around the northwest side of town to the ice rink in Los Alamos canyon. The Perimeter Trail should be extended to form a true loop around town: down Los Alamos canyon to the Y, then up and over the mesas to Rendija Canyon and back to the cemetery.</li>
<li>Complete an extended Perimeter Trail which loops past Bandelier and White Rock.</li>
<li>Build a road biking loop from town to Bandelier, White Rock, and back up to town. This could follow NM502, NM4, and the truck route with proper shoulder extensions.</li>
<li>Build quality road bike access from the back gate up into the mountains to the Valle Grande and beyond.</li>
<li>Create a “Jemez Mountains Grand Loop Trail”. This would be a long trail, on the order of 200 miles, which wound a loop through the Jemez Mountains. The point would be to create a world-class long trail — perhaps a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Scenic_Trail">National Scenic Trail</a> — with buy-in from all the communities surrounding the Jemez. Perhaps there could be a variant allowing one to stay in the backcountry for the full 200 miles and a variant where one traveled light from community to community and stayed in hotels or bunkhouses instead of backpacking. (I’m not the first to have ideas like this; in particular, Dorothy Hoard and others have floated the idea of a Valles Caldera loop trail.)</li>
</ul>
Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-18612753548870606752012-12-16T22:19:00.000-07:002012-12-16T22:19:30.838-07:00Where should Los Alamos put a bike park?Los Alamos County has decided to spend a little bit of money on developing a master trails plan. As part of this, I attended a small working group (10 people including Craig and the two consultants) on Tuesday night.<br />
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There’s a lot to say about our open space, of course, and I have another post in the works on general issues raised at the meeting and elsewhere. For now, what I’d like to talk about is narrow: one of the proposals on the table is a “family bike park” along the lines of <a href="http://bouldermountainbike.org/content/trail-map">Valmont Bike Park</a> in Boulder, CO (but much smaller — more like 7-12 acres instead of 40).<br />
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In principle, I’m not terribly excited by this idea, simply because I don’t do that type of cycling, though I don’t find it fundamentally objectionable and can understand how it would appeal to some folks. I do think that other stuff (e.g., trail access easements) is a higher budget priority, but as part of a master plan, sure.<br />
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One thing that does concern me is location. The leading proposal at the meeting was the site of the old sewer treatment plant in Pueblo Canyon (outlines in this post drawn by me):<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJt4vjz6IERMBLFwx-QUBdUuj9USBIcIQdEizIB3Id6IoXXx_TsoekpMqJqiRur_D6d2vFWOGdX_43-YrnkZah983sxNiMl0RxJFVcCffWOJELgUkmxo8b99Uk-5XTynUxZzcr9wcBIA/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-16+at+4.57.10+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJt4vjz6IERMBLFwx-QUBdUuj9USBIcIQdEizIB3Id6IoXXx_TsoekpMqJqiRur_D6d2vFWOGdX_43-YrnkZah983sxNiMl0RxJFVcCffWOJELgUkmxo8b99Uk-5XTynUxZzcr9wcBIA/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-16+at+4.57.10+PM.png" /></a></div>
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I was quite skeptical of this location at the meeting, and after visiting today, it seems like an even worse idea. That is, very few towns have the internal open space that we do (the notation “Los Alamos” above is the center of town, according to Google); our internal canyons and forests are an extraordinary thing that ought to be protected. And Pueblo Canyon is the heart of this.<br />
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Accordingly, the location above is not the place for a boisterous bike park where lots of people gather regularly. Also, this location would draw vehicle traffic down a secluded canyon (Olive Street is currently closed to vehicles, aside from the utilities department, which is a separate issue).<br />
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There seemed to be some sense at the meeting that the site is essentially a brownfield, already severely impacted and thus appropriate for development. I don’t believe this is so. There is indeed an unsightly dirt parking lot and a large weedy field. What I think we should do is replant the parking lot and roads with ponderosa and the field with native grasses (the closest meadows are on North Mesa, which is in a different ecosystem). I suspect ample volunteer labor would be available for this sort of thing.<br />
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Anyway, I simply can’t support developing a bike park at the above location.<br />
<br />
The trail consultants tell me that an ideal site would be “a relatively flat area with shade, water, proximity to the current trail
network, parking, and easy access for kids” and “close to town but not too
close to neighbors”. A minimum size would be 7-12 acres (the area above is about 10) with 20 parking stalls. That’s a tall order in space-constrained Los Alamos, but I have a couple of suggestions which I believe more or less meet these requirements:<br />
<br />
<b>1. Old DOE building site:</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvQTxrd4gZNcnr-b7n_cPSCkusKcm1yQ489t95SYs2kiIBJUcYv2Cys5NaQi7vIAr6bdqLS-2dh4YxIK1PIxOUs_bx8b_Ic-fzJnq4C4cH8E4ehbLdu6ySg_4YxzftI-xGSHAgYQelg/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-16+at+5.52.13+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvQTxrd4gZNcnr-b7n_cPSCkusKcm1yQ489t95SYs2kiIBJUcYv2Cys5NaQi7vIAr6bdqLS-2dh4YxIK1PIxOUs_bx8b_Ic-fzJnq4C4cH8E4ehbLdu6ySg_4YxzftI-xGSHAgYQelg/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-16+at+5.52.13+PM.png" /> </a> </div>
<br />
This is roughly 8.5+ acres south of Trinity Drive. It’s closer to downtown than the sewer plant site, and it really is a brownfield: as you can see above, it’s a large parking lot with a dirt patch in the middle.<br />
<br />
Access to the existing trails network is a little harder: somehow, you have to get across Trinity (4 lanes, 35+ MPH) and Canyon Road (not as hard). We could add some ped/bike signals, or even drill a 700ft tunnel over to Pueblo Canyon. :)<br />
<br />
However, it has good access in principle to the Los Alamos Canyon bottom, which goes places. Negotiations with DOE are required to make this work, but I think the odds are good for an eventual trail down the canyon from the townsite to the White Rock Y (a lot of this already exists), and if one can get upstream just a couple of hundred yards, one can access the existing Perimeter Trail. Also, the site connects to a potential future <a href="http://www.losalamosnm.us/parks/trails/Pages/CanyonRimTrailSysProp.aspx">Canyon Rim Trail</a> leading to downtown and beyond on pavement — i.e., the site may be better future-proofed than the sewer plant site.<br />
<br />
<b>2. DP Road.</b> For example:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6I1Ngk9Q6-q4OJevDNpqDKjXmq9uJAO8YEzS7WZN8b8-GsPPKtn8yRfMFGUFQqjLIGpjRMWrF6p7ODR-GH4XTWRq08hyphenhyphenlvORj94oDOxnOZp3LRI1ZT9frwqQS-5HaGa7o57D1r4PLw/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-16+at+10.04.34+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga6I1Ngk9Q6-q4OJevDNpqDKjXmq9uJAO8YEzS7WZN8b8-GsPPKtn8yRfMFGUFQqjLIGpjRMWrF6p7ODR-GH4XTWRq08hyphenhyphenlvORj94oDOxnOZp3LRI1ZT9frwqQS-5HaGa7o57D1r4PLw/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-16+at+10.04.34+PM.png" /></a></div>
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I haven’t spent much time down on DP Road, and it’s got weird issues like being in the process of lab cleanup. I’m also told that it’s “zoned commercial and the county intends to use it for light industrial purposes”, but I think it’s worth considering despite that — if we decide that it’s the right spot for a bike park, then it should be a simple matter to re-zone it.<br /><br />Anyway, I don’t know anything about the above 11-acre parcel other than it seems blank on Google Earth. It’s close to a near-term extension of the Canyon Rim trail and has decent access to downtown and the trails beyond via Central Ave; also one can get to the somewhat airy Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail by crossing Trinity, and perhaps potentially go down the hill to Los Alamos Canyon bottom.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-515318881199810792012-12-03T20:33:00.001-07:002012-12-03T20:33:19.905-07:00Why the dollar coin is a dumb ideaApparently the proposal to replace the dollar bill with a coin is <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/03/would-killing-the-dollar-bill-save-money-not-necessarily/">floating around again</a>. This is a dumb idea. Why?<br />
<br />
Right now, there are two classes of cash:<br />
<ol>
<li>Heavy, worthless money: change. Stuff it in your pocket and then into a jar at home where it accumulates until you get bored and take it to the bank. This exercise ties up little value.</li>
<li>Lightweight money with meaningful value: bills.</li>
</ol>
That is, when you make a cash transaction, you go just one place to get value (i.e., bills from your wallet) and receive bills plus essentially worthless cruft in exchange. Bills go back in the wallet, the change goes somewhere else to accumulate.<br />
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If you substitute a coin for the dollar bill, now you have heavy money with value to deal with. Not only can the heavy money no longer be simply tossed aside to accumulate, you must now deal with two places (wallet and pocket) to get cash to offer in payment.<br />
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I’ve been to Canada, and it’s a complete pain in the neck to cart around a pocketful of heavy yet valuable money and dig though both wallet and pocket when making payment. Let’s not make the same mistake.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-53089342156987534422012-11-26T12:00:00.000-07:002012-11-26T12:00:00.129-07:00Oct. 12 hailstormSix weeks ago, there was a big hailstorm in Los Alamos. The photo below is the street in front of our house immediately afterwards. About 3/4" of hail and rain fell in about 10 minutes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6RHPmeEzX3xvOa_hu4siG0K-7xue-bdb-KAgDhwelQtTHbYhZnXOt3aF99Cdpk0Y9KD3GzsIpSZxFDInxDBce7NgDElRj3EQyKi-rlCdfTpP03Tsr6tx2kXOeLMtsMl-mFIlsDnf5w/s1600/20121012-0720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu6RHPmeEzX3xvOa_hu4siG0K-7xue-bdb-KAgDhwelQtTHbYhZnXOt3aF99Cdpk0Y9KD3GzsIpSZxFDInxDBce7NgDElRj3EQyKi-rlCdfTpP03Tsr6tx2kXOeLMtsMl-mFIlsDnf5w/s1600/20121012-0720.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-16391232785283334902012-11-24T22:29:00.000-07:002012-11-24T22:29:05.627-07:00Black Hole closingEd Grothus died a few years ago, but his children kept the Black Hole going for a while. The official closing weekend was at the end of September, and Erin and I paid a visit; here is a selection of photos.<br />
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Who knows how long the place will still be there. As of a few days ago, no visible changes are present other than some spray painted “closed” signs. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GHEyROD_gzfPo76Z9bNP7eH15DC7c9BEE9BdBNJFt78B-hPI7GTliOk9boSAVRSAnXaxlcHgOySrLHcqhttQsayQbMVpei6ylD_YxB2Ot8MBhIKt5QTWERflVdHU5b4wnGVMIVYj3A/s1600/20120915-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_GHEyROD_gzfPo76Z9bNP7eH15DC7c9BEE9BdBNJFt78B-hPI7GTliOk9boSAVRSAnXaxlcHgOySrLHcqhttQsayQbMVpei6ylD_YxB2Ot8MBhIKt5QTWERflVdHU5b4wnGVMIVYj3A/s1600/20120915-21.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Part of the Black Hole experience is getting ripped off. I bought a pulley for $10.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGGBNf0GHE1urPLJA7kMRKMEAVZRg58XBj8xFi9-Xo3XaWhWN7wBSHFJClZN5G39jXBTOFQ-uYJygfv7lAnq7Z315oW8cHoWTmnTpw0ISa-ULnryQf0SeMukDu-148X8dwOtSoiAPKQ/s1600/20120915-45-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGGBNf0GHE1urPLJA7kMRKMEAVZRg58XBj8xFi9-Xo3XaWhWN7wBSHFJClZN5G39jXBTOFQ-uYJygfv7lAnq7Z315oW8cHoWTmnTpw0ISa-ULnryQf0SeMukDu-148X8dwOtSoiAPKQ/s1600/20120915-45-2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Amusingly named bearings.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMucJ-KRpOMPRbhisA9Lsh6TrbbqTxQFufCNMbW1phXDw08Bks-HTTjdPbLi0zyaXTF1dPx7LAl6Ze0no_Dm7yGUCJlUzQOAoNLbhR6zKS9ybLHnK_eGCF7o3Pj3FY09H4ib5G1XExgw/s1600/20120915-50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMucJ-KRpOMPRbhisA9Lsh6TrbbqTxQFufCNMbW1phXDw08Bks-HTTjdPbLi0zyaXTF1dPx7LAl6Ze0no_Dm7yGUCJlUzQOAoNLbhR6zKS9ybLHnK_eGCF7o3Pj3FY09H4ib5G1XExgw/s1600/20120915-50.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was the most depressing item I saw. It is a pediatric ventilator.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0XTNmttU2hnDnyedKmO8qxkmanc-Ey8u7WHcEci-161NF-YVWN29eV9HG8tR89-IwAFaugI2ZhlPXhnYjrg27LqdkZjMVqqH6XsxDf-3ByNWXSOOsGr1XhFBopTNejNZzSQLcsxOGw/s1600/20120915-51-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif0XTNmttU2hnDnyedKmO8qxkmanc-Ey8u7WHcEci-161NF-YVWN29eV9HG8tR89-IwAFaugI2ZhlPXhnYjrg27LqdkZjMVqqH6XsxDf-3ByNWXSOOsGr1XhFBopTNejNZzSQLcsxOGw/s1600/20120915-51-2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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There are dark, neglected corners with flickering lights.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sTcda-yorBNvuK912w2eDb7Jpuf2-zoPP3zxs8YSnFSYU1aMv1P51AqXulFQsL4RbFaVitc7A-01nCxXt-08wwsMgH-CtaeUjEnmWsqaVjN4-MfvnBwObxhUsAvqdlHioTDyg4TFwg/s1600/20120915-51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7sTcda-yorBNvuK912w2eDb7Jpuf2-zoPP3zxs8YSnFSYU1aMv1P51AqXulFQsL4RbFaVitc7A-01nCxXt-08wwsMgH-CtaeUjEnmWsqaVjN4-MfvnBwObxhUsAvqdlHioTDyg4TFwg/s1600/20120915-51.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Do not attempt to make unauthorized repairs or adjustments.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDMmsj97ErbkpFQ9bbEleoYmYSxiuVG-0r59JnOLHc-l6TgUcStfbmrZ5MhVBQdTFbJgoaSX4uecoQa3u0CztbVxT3Y1L-MVVjjH1v5Fv5ytNEnnHnP25fxpB7hxct6zfCU2MR-SQkw/s1600/20120915-54-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDMmsj97ErbkpFQ9bbEleoYmYSxiuVG-0r59JnOLHc-l6TgUcStfbmrZ5MhVBQdTFbJgoaSX4uecoQa3u0CztbVxT3Y1L-MVVjjH1v5Fv5ytNEnnHnP25fxpB7hxct6zfCU2MR-SQkw/s1600/20120915-54-2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Old-school TV remote. I wonder who Lee is.<br />
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Row of non-emptied roof leak buckets.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-47228719304473429202012-11-08T22:21:00.001-07:002012-11-08T22:21:41.172-07:00Did Los Alamos take my voting advice?No question: Tuesday night was a huge win for the moral arc of the universe. I’m so used to voting for losers that seeing a very high percentage of what I supported win, across the country, was wonderful. So how about the specific <a href="http://blog.reidster.net/2012/10/los-alamos-ballot-endorsements-from.html">endorsements</a> I made on October 14 for Los Alamos?<br />
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First, though, an interlude for complaining (it wouldn’t be my blog without griping, now would it?). The local election coverage here is atrocious. Both the <i>Monitor</i> and the <i>Post</i> spent a lot of effort trying to share national results, doing so both awkwardly and slowly. I can guarantee that <i>no one</i>, nobody, not a single person comes to either of these organizations for national or even state results. This is the internet age, and there are dozens of organizations providing these results faster and better.<br />
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In any endeavor, one should consider one’s competitive edge; in this case, it’s offering <i>local</i> results that few outside Los Alamos County would be interested in. But even these weren’t really available. I don’t have a detailed critique, but here was my experience: I looked a few times, I saw nothing but disorganized jumbles of numbers that didn’t answer my question (i.e., who is winning or has won), and so I left.<br />
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For example, Stephanie Garcia Richard’s win was a big lost opportunity. A little statistics — that no one else was interested in doing! — could have called the race well before midnight. I think it’s a real shame that, particularly in this community, no one was interested in offering this sort of reporting.<br />
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Anyway. On to the good stuff!<br />
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<b>Minnesota constitutional amendments.</b> (Wait, that’s not Los Alamos! you protest. This is true, but I lived in Minnesota for 13 years and some great things happened up there on Tuesday.) There were two truly awful constitutional amendments on the ballot: one to enshrine marriage discrimination in the state constitution, and the other to require picture ID to vote and make other dumb voting changes that I don’t quite remember. The latter is particularly egregious because Minnesota has among the highest voting participation rates in the country, which most Minnesotans are rightfully proud of. Both failed.<br />
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<b>Bond questions.</b> Recommendation: <b>Yes on all</b>; result: <b>Yes on all</b>.<br />
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<b>Constitutional amendments.</b> Recommendation: <b>No on 1, Yes on 2-5.</b> Result: <b>Yes on all.</b> I’m not too bothered on losing Amendment 1; it was kind of an esoteric question and will have little impact, I suspect.<br />
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<b>County charter amendments.</b> Recommendation: <b>Yes, No, No, Yes.</b> Result: <b>Yes on all.</b> This one actually annoys me. I think it’s kind of embarrassing that so many people said with a straight face that the language improvements and the related thresholds (e.g., number of signatures required to initiate a recall) were inextricably bound — clearly, they’re not. I was also bothered that a key argument in favor of the amendments was, “smart people worked hard on these, so just trust us”; that’s patronizing. In many ways, Los Alamos seems very prone to groupthink, and I think that may have been what happened here.<br />
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<b>Judge retentions.</b> Recommendation: <b>retain all</b>; result: <b>retain all</b>.<br />
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<b>County clerk.</b> Recommendation: <b>Hjelm</b>; result: <b>Stover</b>. I think this was a big missed opportunity for Democrats. Nathan has good ideas but just can’t express them well to a general audience. (All that said, I’m pretty skeptical that the position should be partisan, since a key responsibility is overseeing elections.)<br />
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<b>County council.</b> Recommendation: <b>Sheehey, Redondo, Henderson</b>. Result: <b>Henderson, Girrens (R), Sheehey</b>. This was the best result that could be reasonably expected, increasing Democratic representation from 1 to 3 out of 7 (I’m unsure if the remaining 4 are all Republicans or if there are some independents in the mix), though I’m a little frustrated because I was not impressed by the Democratic candidates. Again, a missed opportunity in that Michael Redondo really didn’t seem ready for the post — perhaps a better candidate could have made it D+3.<br />
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<b>NM House, District 43.</b> Recommendation: <b>Garcia Richard</b>; result: <b>Garcia Richard</b>. This one I’m really pleased by. I think Stephanie will make an excellent representative. I realized that she reminds me of my sister a little bit, who I have occasionally been pestering to run for office.<br />
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Stephanie did <i>not</i> win Los Alamos County, losing by 767 votes or about 7.5%. However, she won big in the smaller communities that make up the rest of her district, which was enough to put her over the top by about 3%.<br />
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<b>Court of appeals.</b> Recommendation: <b>Zamora</b>; result: <b>Zamora</b>.<br />
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<b>NM Supreme Court.</b> Recommendation: <b>Vigil</b>; result: <b>Vigil</b>.<br />
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<b>US House, District 3.</b> Recommendation: <b>Lujan</b>; result: <b>Lujan</b>. Shamefully, in Los Alamos County, Lujan beat Tea Party nutcase Byrd by only 8% (he won the district by 25%).<br />
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<b>US Senate.</b> Recommendation: <b>Heinrich</b>; result: <b>Heinrich</b>. Again shamefully, Heather Wilson won Los Alamos County by 12 points.<br />
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<b>President.</b> Recommendation: <b>Obama</b>; result: <b>Obama</b>, with 332 electoral votes, which is about the most that could be reasonably expected. And Los Alamos County went blue again! (The last time before 2008 was JFK.) Even though they called it at about 9:15pm, I was so amped up that I didn’t really get to bed until perhaps 1am. He gave a very good acceptance speech.<br />
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The end!<br />
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As an aside, it is worth noting that every few years, we as American citizens decide who the most powerful people on the planet should be. Furthermore, if we tell them to go, they go, and this all happens peacefully. In the course of humanity, and even to some extent now, this is quite remarkable.<br />
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All in all, it was a superb night and a big step to keep us on the right side of history. I am proud of my country.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-12303944064496399882012-10-15T21:16:00.000-06:002012-10-15T21:16:11.067-06:00A very interesting talk at the ESB meeting ThursdayThere’s a really interesting talk at the Environmental Sustainability Board meeting this Thursday. All are welcome!<br /><br />I should add that I’ve read Tom’s book and thought it was extremely good.<br /><br />(I’m a board member, but speaking for myself of course.)<br /><br /><hr />
<br /><b>21st Century Science Powered by 19th Century Power Plants</b><br />Speaker: Tom Ribe<br /><br />Thursday, Oct. 18th 6 pm UNM-LA Building 2 Room 230<br /><br />Sponsored by: Los Alamos County Environmental Sustainability Board and Los Alamos Sustainable Energy Network<br /><br />Join us for a discussion that will overview Los Alamos's power sources, and urge an update of the electricity supply over the next decade to address climate change. Los Alamos' power supply is vulnerable and unreliable and should be produced in Los Alamos, using a combination of energy conservation, green power, and cutting edge nuclear power. Los Alamos has a moral and technological responsibility to lead by example in this area given that it is a taxpayer funded facility of the US Department of Energy.<br /><br />Our speaker is Tom Ribe, a native of Los Alamos and an expert on natural resource issues relating to the Four Corners area. He worked for LANL between 1992 and 1997 in the Environmental Restoration program. He has his MS in Environmental Policy from the University of Oregon and has written extensively on energy, public lands and wildfire. He is author of "Inferno by Committee, A History of the Cerro Grande Fire". He lives in Santa Fe where he works in venture capital, the tourism industry, and as Executive Director of Caldera Action, a group focused on the preservation of the Valles Caldera National Preserve.<br /><br />This presentation will take place as part of the October meeting of the Los Alamos County Environmental Sustainability Board. The Board meeting will begin at 5:30, with the talk starting at 6 pm sharp. Attendees are encouraged to come by at 5:30 and partake in the Board meeting.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-39289675883982745012012-10-14T09:29:00.002-06:002012-10-14T12:37:18.155-06:00Los Alamos ballot endorsements, from bottom to topHere’s how I’m going to vote, with some reasoning and griping sprinkled in. This is the Los Alamos ballot. I’ll start at the bottom, since that’s typically the most perplexing.<br />
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The League of Women Voters <a href="http://lwvlosalamos.org/files/VG2012.pdf">voter’s guide</a> also seems pretty good (a paper copy went out in Thursday’s <i>Monitor</i>). Also, a group in favor of the county charter amendments has a (less good) <a href="http://lacfgg.drupalgardens.com/">website</a>.<br />
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The county clerk’s office has PDF sample ballots for <a href="http://www.losalamosnm.us/clerk/Documents/SAMPLE%20Ballot%20-%20Los%20Alamos.pdf">Los Alamos</a> and <a href="http://www.losalamosnm.us/clerk/Documents/SAMPLE%20Ballot%20-%20White%20Rock.pdf">White Rock</a>.<br />
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Finally, I’m skipping the unopposed races, since there’s no real point in voting or not voting in those. <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Bond questions</b></i></span><br />
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<b>Yes on all three</b><br />
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The questions ask for bonding for senior centers (A), libraries (B), and education (C). <br />
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I wasn’t able to find any thoughtful explanation of what’s going on here (though there is a <a href="http://www.ladailypost.com/content/letter-editor-support-unm-la-go-bond-c">letter to the editor</a> in the Post just now from the UNM-LA director in support of Question C). So, I fall back on a couple of principles: (a) the United States has among the lowest taxes of any industrialized nation, and (b) education is grotesquely underfunded. I’m voting Yes.<br />
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<i>[Update: Sunday’s </i>Monitor<i> points out that these replace expiring bond authority, so there would be no tax increases.]</i><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Constitutional Amendments </i></span></b><br />
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<b>Amendment 1 — No</b><br />
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This amendment would expand the judicial standards commission from 11 members to 13, with the additional two members drawn from specific roles.<br />
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I’m voting no because 11 is already an unwieldy number for a committee, and there’s no need to make this change at the constitutional level. Constitutions are for principles, not details.<br />
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<b>Amendment 2 — Yes</b><br />
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This amendment requires the legislature to set meaningful qualifications for members of the Public Regulation Commission (currently, there are essentially none).<br />
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This makes sense to me; a commission with technical and judicial responsibilities should have qualified members. I’m voting yes.<br />
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<b>Amendment 3 — Yes</b><br />
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This amendment transfers responsibility for chartering corporations from the Public Regulatory Commission to the Secretary of State. Given that the SOS is responsible for this in almost all other states, and for the bulk of other corporate filings in this one, it seems like a sensible simplification. I’m voting yes.<br />
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<b>Amendment 4 — Yes</b><br />
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Similarly, this amendment transfers insurance regulation from the PRC to a new insurance office. It seems like this amendment de-politicizes a technical oversight responsibility (e.g., the PRC recently earned an “F” on this responsibility from some body who issues such grades) and aligns with other states. I’m voting yes.<br />
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<b>Amendment 5 — Yes</b><br />
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Another transfer. Under this one, an independent public defenders’ office would be established, and public defenders would no longer report to the governor. I think this is an excellent idea: any support for accused criminals, including offering poor folks a fair trial with decent representation (instead of, say, just throwing them in jail — after all, the government can’t be trusted to tax us, but they can be trusted to jail and kill us without error), is highly politically unpopular (sadly). Thus, public defenders who report to a political position are at continual risk of having their already embarrassingly meager support cut.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>County Charter Amendments</i></b></span><br />
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<b>Question 1 (Initiative) — Yes</b><br />
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This simplifies and clarifies the charter rules for citizen petitions (ordinances created by popular vote rather than the County Council). OK, that’s fine.<br />
<br />
But, a yes vote <i>also</i> reduces the time frame for circulating petitions from 180 days to 90 days. That I’m skeptical of. Los Alamos does not have a California-like problem of ballot questions clogging the political process. Why put both changes in the same question? I’m not sympathetic to the “logrolling” hysteria coming from some quarters, but the basic procedures for citizen initiative and the time limit seem like totally different issues to me. That is, I don’t have any sense that it’s illegal (as logrolling is), but it seems disrespectful to voters.<br />
<br />
I’m annoyed by this, but 90 days does seem like plenty of time to circulate a petition, so I will hold my nose and vote yes.<br />
<br />
<b>Question 2 (Referendum) — No</b><br />
<br />
More simplifying and clarifying the charter, this time for referendums (citizen veto of County Council decisions). Again, fine.<br />
<br />
But again, this is mixed with increasing the number of signatures required. Since this process does not seem to be abused in Los Alamos County, there is no need to make it harder, and I resent being forced to consider two separate issues in one question. Therefore, I will vote no.<br />
<br />
<b>Question 3 (Recall) — No</b><br />
<br />
This amendment makes it harder to recall elected county officials. Again, there seem to be two issues here: bringing the charter into compliance with the state constitution, and increasing the number of signatures required for a recall petition to force the issue onto the ballot.<br />
<br />
I do believe the constitutional standards are too high. As far as I can tell, they essentially say that an elected official must engage in illegal or clearly unethical behavior in order to be recalled. I believe that doing a crappy job should be sufficient. Now, being noncompliant with the state constitution may be a source of trouble, and one that concerns me, but isn’t that an issue for the lawyers, not the voters? Why are the citizenry being asked to pass judgement on a legal question?<br />
<br />
Second, 25% of the voters in the previous election (the current requirement) is already quite a large number of people in a high-turnout city. And again, I’m bothered that two unrelated issues are presented in the same question. So I’m voting no.<br />
<br />
<b>Question 4 (Charter amendments) — Yes</b><br />
<br />
Seems to be purely clarification and simplification. I can support that.<br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Judges (Retention)</span></b></i><br />
<br />
<b>Retain all.</b> All three judges up for retention seem sane in the LWV guide. Also, all complain about partisan election of judges, which is an issue that concerns me a great deal. Thus, I’m voting to retail all three.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>An interlude before we get into the partisan races</b></i></span><br />
<br />
I don’t vote for Republicans. Frankly, I think it’s a national embarrassment that the Republican Party is taken seriously by a nontrivial fraction of Americans.<br />
<br />
Just a few reasons why, in no particular order: The party is anti-science (e.g., climate change is real, people). They’re backwards on social issues like marriage equality. They oppose abortion (a position which I can understand) but then turn around and oppose things which clearly reduce the abortion rate — comprehensive sex ed and easy access to birth control — in favor of things that clearly don’t, like abstinence-only sex ed. They demand lower taxes as the solution to any economic woe or success, regardless of circumstances, and their tax proposals favor the rich instead of the regular folks who helped the rich get there. The oppose Obama’s policies simply because he’s Obama, rather than for substantive reasons (e.g.: Obamacare is essentially identical to the Republican counter-proposal to Clinton’s healthcare efforts, as well as Romneycare, but now it’s a socialist plot). They are awful on public land issues, favoring short-term extractive gains rather than responsible, long-term, fact-based stewardship. They are too quick to pursue violent solutions to foreign policy issues. Finally, they promote voter ID efforts to solve fraud issues which don’t exist at the expense of disenfranchising a nontrivial number of (largely Democratic, surprise surprise) legitimate voters.<br />
<br />
Another thing that really irritates me about the party is that they’re really good at playing the game of politics. That is: they win less on the merits of their proposals than obfuscating, sneaking, and spinning; complaining about perceived (i.e., not real) mistreatment by the press; and tricks like gerrymandering Congressional districts. Polling shows pretty clearly that when folks really understand Republican proposals, they’re very unpopular. Republicans know this, and they’ve been highly effective at finding “alternate” ways to sell their proposals.<br />
<br />
I realize that at the local level, party affiliation often means less. However, I find the behavior of the national party to be so offensive that simple party association is a dealbreaker. (I could be persuaded otherwise if a local Republican candidate made a point of profusely and frequently apologizing for his or her party, but nobody seems to be doing that.)<br />
<br />
In other words: The Republican Party is really quite extreme. Yet, they’ve convinced about half the country that they’re not. Which is kind of scary.<br />
<br />
So, the only real alternative is the Democrats; supporting third parties almost always leads to poorer results (I’m looking at you, Ralph Nader). I generally support the Democratic point of view, even though they frequently annoy me with their disorganization and continual ineptitude at playing the political game.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the point being that many of the partisan races have pretty simple reasoning because there are only Republican and non-Republican alternatives.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>County races</b></i></span><br />
<br />
<b>County Clerk — Nathan Hjelm</b><br />
<br />
I especially don’t trust Republicans on election issues. So, it’s Mr. Hjelm (who I actually went to high school with), despite his weird ideas about how to respond to the LWV questions. E.g., from the voter’s guide: “it’s essential that any system involved in tallying votes should never be connected to an insecure network”. Which is true. But there are ways to express that other than nerdspeak, and there are higher-level principles which would be better to lead with.<br />
<br />
I think he would do a good job, address important issues that Ms. Stover would not think of, and be too nerdy about it.<br />
<br />
<b>County Council — Sheehey, Redondo, Henderson</b><br />
<br />
I’ll vote for the three Democrats, but I’m not terribly impressed by the options.<br />
<br />
Pete Sheehey I don’t know much about, though his LWV answers seem fine (e.g. he named transferring the Valles Caldera to Bandelier, which is IMO an important move).<br />
<br />
Michael Redondo is also a nice guy — I’ve met him — and I’m sure he’d make a fine councilor. He is also young (my age, roughly), which I think would be a major asset on the council. My beef is that he is not accepting any campaign contributions at all. Now, I certainly think money is a big problem in politics. But this is excessive. I would much rather he get elected and apply his principles on the council than make a statement during the campaign.<br />
<br />
Kristin Henderson is a major booster of the Trinity Site redevelopment, which I’m highly skeptical of. My key concern is the monopoly aspect of it — Smith’s will control a huge chunk of downtown real estate. We had a conversation on this blog about it, which went something like this. Me: “there are a lot of monopoly issues here, and I worry about them”. Her: “don’t worry, we worked hard, everything is taken care of”. “what about issue X?” “Smith’s assures us they won’t do that”. “Fine, put it in the contract”. (Silence.)<br />
<br />
The Republicans are Republicans. Vincent Chiravelle, who currently serves, bothers me in particular. He is very frequently at the losing end of 6-1 votes, often on fiscal issues. Basically, he strikes me as excessively ideological and unwilling to invest the necessary resources in our town’s future.<br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">State races</span></b></i><br />
<br />
<b>New Mexico House, 43rd District — Stephanie Garcia Richard</b><br />
<br />
I’ve met Stephanie and was impressed enough to give money to her campaign and put a sign in my yard. She’s a young, ambitious, and passionate woman who really cares about Los Alamos. <br />
<br />
<b>Court of appeals — Monica Zamora</b><br />
<br />
<b>N.M. Supreme Court — Barbara Vigil</b><br />
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">National races</span></b></i><br />
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<b>U.S. House, 3rd District — Ben Ray Lujan</b><br />
<br />
Mr. Lujan seems like a decent guy and is a reliable Democratic vote. Republican opponent Byrd is a climate change denier who then tries to tell us what science is. Enough said.<br />
<br />
<b>U.S. Senate — Martin Heinrich</b><br />
<br />
Mr. Heinrich is actually a scientist, which we need way more of in Congress. He is interested in sustainability and ending tax breaks that favor the rich at the expense of everyone else. Wilson hits all the standard Republican talking points including climate change denial.<br />
<br />
<b>President — Barack Obama</b><br />
<br />
President Obama is a good man who’s <a href="http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/09/01/a-long-list-of-president-obamas-accomplishments-with-citations/">accomplished a great deal</a> despite uniform opposition by a Republican Congress. He’s thoughtful and works hard to make the right decision in complex situations. He’s interested in getting things done, not politics.<br />
<br />
Mitt Romney is a chameleon who will say whatever his audience wants to hear. His proposals are either unworkable, too vague to score, or extremely conservative, and it’s clear that if elected, he will be beholden to an increasingly extreme, non-reality-based party. I’m very worried that he’s fooled enough of the people enough of the time to get elected.<br />
<br />
In particular, I worry about the canyon country that I love. The state of Utah is <a href="http://www.suwa.org/2012/04/26/dark-road-ahead/">suing the federal government</a> for motorized access to thousands of miles of “highways”, most of which are nothing but washes and paths in pristine wilderness. Also, the state of Utah has demanded that millions of acres of federal land be <a href="http://www.suwa.org/2012/03/23/the-facts-about-hb-148-unconstitutional-bad-public-policy-and-won%E2%80%99t-help-utah-schools/">transferred to the state</a> — and it’s abundantly obvious that Utah has zero interest in preserving them, but lots of interest in extractive industry and motorized recreation. Romney has stated that he “<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/02/03/418141/romney-public-lands/">doesn’t know the purpose</a>” of Western federal land. So, I think it’s a significant risk that he would fail to oppose or actively support these destructive efforts.<br />
<br />Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-19964298796474995502012-09-02T13:30:00.001-06:002012-09-02T13:37:12.294-06:00Be there or be square: Fuller Lodge talk, Sept. 19The Los Alamos Mountaineers runs a monthly program of invited speakers. This month, I’m giving the talk. It will be at Fuller Lodge the evening of Wednesday, September 19. Exactly when is a little bit of a mystery to me; the talks are often billed as 7:30pm but don’t start until a little later. Given that it’s <i>my</i> talk, though, I suggest you show up at 5:30, or even midnight the night before, to make sure you have a seat.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://lamountaineers.org/">LAMC web site</a> also carries this announcement. It’s free unless you want to slip me an envelope full of cash.<br />
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<hr />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>How I learned to lead “Priedhorsky moderate”:<br />Forty canyon adventures from age 10</b></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUabbsYT1GFpLlVsB4NiMzNRsLkizkQZkktQvBtD_Dkj6oTbnevlGWVhsoGz4Nh2yEtJrffbST-fcbtmPdcsS7LX4hbOTcQmpWQWSr0Kt3GzlX535hRtGKLZjO0360JGm5i1RQTF2nRg/s1600/Slides_027.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUabbsYT1GFpLlVsB4NiMzNRsLkizkQZkktQvBtD_Dkj6oTbnevlGWVhsoGz4Nh2yEtJrffbST-fcbtmPdcsS7LX4hbOTcQmpWQWSr0Kt3GzlX535hRtGKLZjO0360JGm5i1RQTF2nRg/s640/Slides_027.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dark Canyon, 1989</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Part coming-of-age story, part exploration of local natural beauty, and
part compendium of hilarious debacles, this talk is about the canyons of
the Colorado Plateau. In photographs and illustrations, Reid will tell
the story of his forty adventures in the ethereal landscape which
inspired the alien worlds of Calvin and Hobbes’ Spaceman Spiff. You’ll
laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll demand a refund.<br />
<br />
Reid was born and raised in Los Alamos and spent 13 years in
Minnesota before returning in fall 2011. Actual excerpt from one of his
trip invitations: “Difficulty will be standard ‘Priedhorsky Moderate’.
You can look forward to extremely hard work, pain, terrible cold,
blazing heat, bad food, intestinal disturbances, odor, risk of injury or
death, and many other unpleasant circumstances. There will also be nice
scenery and an opportunity to go places almost no one ever goes.”<br />
<br />
This talk contains sexual themes and references to drug use.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gmLH1A1CaHw3FYatXa5TZr5aFIA_pos7AdKRfAlHXcLsOlWmZoswKU4LAQgYoGLf1q_6kBYpQcPCdleDyoFGnNI884hIXTYTXNdUOKsE7j2ReznhaquSu5ho1DHxa8ECSPxPgcDJgQ/s1600/1608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-gmLH1A1CaHw3FYatXa5TZr5aFIA_pos7AdKRfAlHXcLsOlWmZoswKU4LAQgYoGLf1q_6kBYpQcPCdleDyoFGnNI884hIXTYTXNdUOKsE7j2ReznhaquSu5ho1DHxa8ECSPxPgcDJgQ/s640/1608.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stevens Canyon, 2009</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZz29xCFPWBU6rStHSjxFXX2xO2GVoJYFX7j9ZqOJiSVXIEGQyiYzUrsdFpJJ2zV8w82nRPFVIYPd3oqyqQcfjet68I9IR3pvtE_FMFqwfkfF3RJpI5T9AgecJS8cqroASWJC48_byQ/s1600/escalante_cby_094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrZz29xCFPWBU6rStHSjxFXX2xO2GVoJYFX7j9ZqOJiSVXIEGQyiYzUrsdFpJJ2zV8w82nRPFVIYPd3oqyqQcfjet68I9IR3pvtE_FMFqwfkfF3RJpI5T9AgecJS8cqroASWJC48_byQ/s640/escalante_cby_094.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Death Hollow, 2005</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcHj34nDsX-mVQ4oBalat24xM18kAUGa2UtCO73ZOF-U2po9HUpEj2Se_LrXTJOEUmtZ-mPGeXngc_HBcVyzcNI283p1s8OvOs7VsC0WA-cNV8mlfztmUHWzMoOCGH4NtYrjU7yxy3A/s1600/p5270148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcHj34nDsX-mVQ4oBalat24xM18kAUGa2UtCO73ZOF-U2po9HUpEj2Se_LrXTJOEUmtZ-mPGeXngc_HBcVyzcNI283p1s8OvOs7VsC0WA-cNV8mlfztmUHWzMoOCGH4NtYrjU7yxy3A/s640/p5270148.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Death Hollow, 2005</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-41550594612711324422012-08-19T16:59:00.000-06:002012-08-19T16:59:52.831-06:00CSST 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://sociotech.net/news.html#news1">CSST 2012</a> at Bishop’s Lodge was pretty awesome. We saw a cool sunset each night. This one wasn’t the best — the best one was a big electrical storm over the Rio Grande Valley.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-7492618327934036642012-07-23T22:44:00.001-06:002012-07-23T22:44:34.635-06:00Santa Clara Canyon rim hikeErin, Calvin, and I went on an LAMC hike led by my dad to the rim of Santa Clara Canyon in the northern Jemez. This was Calvin’s first “real” hike, about 3.5 miles, and it was fun despite a little bit of fussiness on Calvin’s part (he sure eats a lot) and the long drive in (over 2.5 hours from Los Alamos). The views were extraordinary.<br />
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Upper Santa Clara Canyon from near the trailhead. The canyon has an interesting property in that it has no real head — it just slowly slopes over and begins draining into the valles, while staying quite deep. I wondered what causes this unusual phenomenon. <br />
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Puffball, approximately 4" across. <br />
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Changing Calvin’s diaper in a beautiful meadow. He was not a fan. One of the worst diaper changes ever, according to him. <br />
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This herd of cows was very perplexed by Calvin’s wailing regarding (yet another) diaper change.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-82522563857285581852012-06-26T12:00:00.000-06:002012-06-26T12:00:04.677-06:00Pizza in the caveOne of the things I enjoyed doing when I was in high school was to order a pizza, then take it into a cave and have a picnic. Somehow, I was able to talk Erin and our friends Amanda and Isaac into doing this. A couple of weeks ago, we hiked up to Cave of the Winds with a pizza and a diaper bag.<br />
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Erin with Calvin in the cave. He may be the youngest person to ever go in that cave, and I’d strongly suspect the first to be breastfed in there.<br />
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On the way out, we had a wonderful sunset. It looked very much like it might rain, but sadly it didn’t.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-16802073606143591642012-06-24T14:17:00.000-06:002012-06-24T14:17:22.916-06:00Trail maintenance with Craig MartinCraig Martin is our local trails guru. He’s employed by the county; I believe his title is something like “open space specialist”. He’s been running trail work sessions for the past month or two, but I’ve always been unavailable because of Calvin. Yesterday, however, was a time I could make it. I was really excited to help out because the trails are something very important to me, and I want to contribute. Also, I like digging holes.<br />
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The meeting place for <a href="http://lamountaineers.org/node/202">yesterday’s session</a> was at the Nail Trail trailhead, off NM 501 about 500 vertical feet about the townsite. The goal was to stabilize a section of train so it wouldn’t wash away when the monsoons arrive. Of course, I biked there with all my junk in the basket. Craig thought I was a little nutty.<br />
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There were 8 of us. We hiked in 20-30 minutes, had a quick training session, and were off to work. The tools were a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulaski_%28tool%29">Pulaski</a>, which has an axe one side and a pick on the other, and a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLeod_%28tool%29">McLeod</a>, which is basically a giant hoe. It was very difficult, filthy work, with huge amounts of dust containing a mix of dirt and soot. I’m still pretty sore this morning.<br />
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My favorite part was filling in this hole. The profile is not obvious in this picture, but it was a gash across most of the trail. It’s about a foot deep on the right side of the trail, maybe 2-3 on the left, and the whole mess extends down the slope another 3 feet or so.<br />
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I believe it was caused by the root system of the stump at left burning away.<br />
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After! I (along with the help of several others) built a rock wall and then filled in the gap with rocks and dirt.<br />
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I suspect this spot will need more attention soon as the thing settles and the tree begins to rot away.<br />
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Side view of the rock wall we built.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-25880248652799134962012-05-05T12:00:00.000-06:002012-05-05T12:00:01.253-06:00Cletus gets mail<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_ponderosa"><i>Pinus ponderosa brachyptera</i></a> seedling is behind Arizona Avenue.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-34918861335112408472012-05-02T12:00:00.000-06:002012-05-02T12:00:04.323-06:00Tools<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I sorted out and organized our tools, removing extras and stuff where Erin and I had duplicates. I guess that means our relationship is serious now?Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-65005211185677818202012-04-30T22:05:00.003-06:002012-04-30T22:05:59.312-06:00Climbing schoolI’m taking the Los Alamos Mountaineers <a href="http://lamountaineers.org/zSCHOOL.html">climbing school</a>, which is very well run. It’s a blast, despite the fact that it often makes me feel like an out-of-shape blob who is terrified of heights.<br />
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I’ve been wondering if climbing would be a fun family activity, with Erin and then the kiddos once they’re old enough (the YMCA has climbing classes for kids as young as 4). I look forward to exploring this more after things calm down a bit post-birth. <br />
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Here we are setting up for the 4th outdoor class session, at The Gallows in White Rock Canyon. It turns out most of these routes were first ascended by my friend <a href="http://waltworks.com/">Walt Wehner</a> and his friends in the 90’s.<br />
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A colleague of mine spotted <a href="http://www.losalamosdailyphoto.com/2012/04/blooming-on-blue-dot.html">13 different kinds of wildflowers</a> in White Rock Canyon the weekend before. I think I got to 8 or 9.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-3055843753590772792012-04-18T22:22:00.000-06:002012-04-18T22:22:00.144-06:00Cerro Colorado hikeOn March 31, my dad and I and some LAMC folks hiked up Cerro Colorado, near Ojo Caliente.<br />
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Above is the summit. The area had been remarkably hard hit by the piñon die-off a few years ago, as you can see above. However, a decent number of tiny to small piñons seemed to be doing just fine. My hope is that they’ll stage a comeback in a way that is more resistant to the beetle plague.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-57035975481930945752012-04-16T22:19:00.002-06:002012-04-16T22:19:54.154-06:00Sandia Mountains hikeA few weeks back I went on a hike in the Sandias with some folks from LAMC, as part of a “Class 3 Scrambling” course.<br />
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Near our high point, looking northwest? The Jemez are just peeking over on the right horizon, while Cabezon is visible on the left horizon. <br />
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The tramway people are pretty serious about people not climbing the towers.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-43003578182904322122012-04-02T21:13:00.000-06:002012-04-02T21:13:28.959-06:00A snowy April 2 in Los Alamos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is the scene in our back yard as of an hour or so ago. That is, snowing heavily with 4-5" of accumulation in some places. I think it’s great. I believe I’ve mentioned before that the only acceptable weather conditions are blizzard and brilliantly sunny.<br />
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The branches covered in blossoms catch the snow best.Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8999648290761146346.post-88148718431802076332012-03-18T16:36:00.000-06:002012-03-18T16:36:04.577-06:00Cave of the Winds revisitedA few days ago, I got a request from <a href="http://pajaritoeec.org/">PEEC</a> asking if they could use photos from my <a href="http://blog.reidster.net/2011/11/cave-of-winds-hike.html">November post</a> on Cave of the Winds. I said sure; they also wondered if I had photos of the cave entrance and inside the cave. I said no, but I’d be happy to go up and make some, which I did this morning. It was terrifically windy.<br />
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I watched this tree fall over. I considered turning around, but decided that since there weren’t too many trees, paying more attention to the few trees I was passing was enough to keep me reasonably safe. I didn’t see any more fresh falls.<br />
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Turn-off to Cave of the Winds. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrb9bRVGpdaOPMTwUZKudZoBRSHKcjHAoK-AMpV4zfMUHmrhV6TyiMUJ80bVahK1ph32jmax3gi3pX6rONaMHsAu8TY3GpQhaphCR4ziT6TPpcsN7R-K4A28bbx_E6vwkvW_KMr6_9g/s1600/20120318-0228.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrb9bRVGpdaOPMTwUZKudZoBRSHKcjHAoK-AMpV4zfMUHmrhV6TyiMUJ80bVahK1ph32jmax3gi3pX6rONaMHsAu8TY3GpQhaphCR4ziT6TPpcsN7R-K4A28bbx_E6vwkvW_KMr6_9g/s640/20120318-0228.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Cave of the Winds entrance, looking east (downstream). The descent from the rim is quite steep and ends in a drop-off. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo32bblm6xjwrySBRqvcO7rH5ZIrQQu9AX4KO-DKsXG5gD74evT6B6pIZAQ-4635VLcmkjDreCqSd6Srp9CYnx-ynWectB9h7teboQzYRq9jkwULyMhMjTp8lZzKtl-Qo4I1mzQHsiRQ/s1600/20120318-0230.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo32bblm6xjwrySBRqvcO7rH5ZIrQQu9AX4KO-DKsXG5gD74evT6B6pIZAQ-4635VLcmkjDreCqSd6Srp9CYnx-ynWectB9h7teboQzYRq9jkwULyMhMjTp8lZzKtl-Qo4I1mzQHsiRQ/s640/20120318-0230.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Cave entrance looking west (upstream). <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWBVH1w0UQqifhyphenhyphenKzf8wXU3PkfYydT0nczXkuDrB-i1impOVjUJ3dJ9zjSxTLmSScVWG7_BXCtU0suCzMrmYRvyDMCEECJ_eAxyV2zbBL7DiUiIR0JEh3Zvrf3y3YZtoLR5xsKE_hCQ/s1600/20120318-0239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWBVH1w0UQqifhyphenhyphenKzf8wXU3PkfYydT0nczXkuDrB-i1impOVjUJ3dJ9zjSxTLmSScVWG7_BXCtU0suCzMrmYRvyDMCEECJ_eAxyV2zbBL7DiUiIR0JEh3Zvrf3y3YZtoLR5xsKE_hCQ/s640/20120318-0239.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Inside the cave. There is one main room and a few short side passages, and as far as I can tell, no bears (I checked).Reidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01705216128276218311noreply@blogger.com1