If you have plumbing needs in Rio Rancho or Albuquerque, please remember Five Star Plumbing for good, honest, dependable work and fair pricing for their services. They have done several jobs for me and they are very pleasant, hard working and very fair …They have been in business a few months now and I am happy to refer them to you. A young man, just starting out and he will treat you right. Oh, did I say that he is my grandson…but all I say is true…I’m proud of him..

Five Star Plumbing

Rio Rancho, New Mexico

License number: 381734

505-553-2939

What is going on in our nation is bad. Bad when a criminal is mistreated by the police, white or black, and it is happening in all mayor cities in our nation. And happening much more than we would want to admit. It’s bad when protesters become rioters and looters…Many police shootings have happened here in Albuquerque, some shot with mental conditions whose families called for help. Shooting was the restraint used at least once..It is bad when it does happen…But we must wait on the justice system to react and handle the injustices when they happen. Many times the person being arrested makes matters worse when he fights or flees the police, the worst thing they can do as that act really makes them appear guilty of that crime or a worse crime. In Ferguson and Baltimore, the looting and rioting was totally uncalled for and makes the protesters involved with the crimes of stealing and arson just as guilty as those that they are protesting about. Black and White, we have to keep a level head and deal with the issues like civil people. Blacks need to call down those that are looting and burning….that’s not protesting, that is rioting and they should be arrested. Whites need to control themselves upon seeing that the blacks are involved, usually young adults, and not agitate the situation…Children should be home after dark and not out on the streets of any city. It falls on the adults in the family to control their children. And the adults involved in the rioting should be arrested themselves….. So, let’s those of us who have a reasonable level of IQ try to talk some sense to those who feel that more than protesting needs to be done….Burning and looting only magnifies the problems, making things worse for all…Law enforcement needs help of the citizens in these cases, and those citizens must remain level headed….Pete Hester

Well, Mr. Navarrette is trying to get Hillary to support the Latino immigrants…again…He always writes in support of the Latino’s, as if they are family and it is US against THEM…..I would wish that one day he would be concerned about America and where we are economically and understand that we are not against anyone as a people but we are for all Americans….Your bloodline is of no importance to me or any of my kin. I am not concerned about England and the people who live there or want to immigrate to America….I am an American…You are an American…Lets fight for those things that are important to Americans and our economy….  But, he did hit a home run on a couple of thoughts on Hillary which I thought were great. One, “she only thinks about the Latinos when she has a burrito in her hand” and two, on her knowledge of the Latino’s was, “she is one taco shy of a combination plate”…..Two great lines….You can read his article in today’s Albuquerque Journal, 4/23/15 and make up your own mind. Ruben does not write about Americans, he always writes about those in this country illegally….Why he is cut that way is beyond me…Yeah, I know I’m thick headed, but at least I admit it….

We received a report on our drinking water a few days ago….It is still good water…Good tasting water I might add…..New reports show the jet fuel is not headed northeast toward our closest wells, but rather is head north….So we remain in good stead as far as not having a jet fuel cocktail for drinking. The Air Force people are continuing to drill wells to recover the jet fuel from the aquifer and hopefully those efforts will soon pay off. In case you have forgotten, Kirtland Air Force Base had a major spill of a reported 6 to 24 million gallons of jet fuel, and they are not sure for how long it spilled or the exact amount loss. I’m still amazed by that last statement of amount unknown. (Inventory control, It’s amount in minus amount out equals amount on hand. If it does not add up, you have a loss. That’s pretty basis stuff, huh?) So, it’s a bunch of jet fuel lost for a bunch of years. Wow ….Back to the report on our water, all the parts per million and parts per billion of the bad stuff is very much under control according to the analysis….That was good news for all us Albuquerque residents…..Good job for the city and county water workers for a very nice and thorough report….

An unexpected sight on the south rim of the Grand Canyon….These two elk were just off the parking lot giving all the visitors a chance to do some picture taking…Some of the photographers were getting pretty close, including my son-in-law who shot these pictures and a few others. The little fellow displayed absolutely no fear of heights. He played all around that cliff….

A couple of years ago the city of Albuquerque asked it’s people to reduced water consumption in an all out effort to reduce water usage in the city. The people listened and responded….very well I might add. In 1995 our usage was 251 gallons per person per day. The last record, I think it was taken in late 2014, however, not real sure on this, but it was recorded at 135 gallons per person. Looking my bill over last time, I was not really a winner, however, we used 175 gallons per person in my household. We don’t have a lot of grass, but we do have a backyard that requires a lot of water and along with Sweetie’s plants probably accounts for that. If things get worst, we can cut back more if we need to. Out in California they are having severe problems with drought and because of the United States depending on the fruits and vegetables  that California produces, California’s problem is a problem for all of us. So, I am hoping the folks out there will work to limit their water usage until we get some more rain and snowfall. According to this morning’s paper the usage out there went up instead of down in the latest check on usage…..Listen, folks of California, this is pretty serious stuff. The rest of America is counting on you to respond to this call to reduce water consumption…..I hope it does not get worse and I know you do also….America thanks you for your fruits and vegetables and we want that service to continue…..We need you…

Wildlife 8 comments

A graceful gazelle becomes a pest

The exotic oryx is wearing out its welcome in the Chihuahuan Desert

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – They are majestic animals, weighing 400 to 500 pounds, their straight black horns 30 to 40 inches long. Their faces are adorned with distinctive black-and-white masks, and they stare at you as if deciding whether to run.

They are oryx gazelles, from the Kalahari region of Africa. But this is the Chihuahuan Desert of southern New Mexico, where the animals have been multiplying since 1969, when the New Mexico Game and Fish Department released oryx as part of its exotic animal introduction program on the White Sands Missile Range.

The idea to provide exotic big-game hunting opportunities for local hunters originated just after World War II with Frank C. Hibben, today professor emeritus of archaeology at the University of New Mexico, but then chairman of the New Mexico Game Commission. Mustered out of the Navy in the Mediterranean, Hibben had hunted oryx in the Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa, an area that resembled his adopted state of New Mexico. Hibben believed there was a “niche” in the Chihuahuan Desert that would support a large ungulate. Years later, he paid for and helped to trap 18 oryx which, after quarantine, were shipped from Africa to New Jersey and then on to the Albuquerque Zoo.

Under federal law, the original animals had to spend the rest of their lives confined at the zoo, but their offspring were released onto White Sands Missile Range, a 2.2 million-acre parcel of property. Studies conducted in the 1960s by wildlife-management scientists at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces suggested that the oryx would be successful, but nobody knew just how far they would spread – or how many problems they would cause.

“The oryx thought this was home sweet home,” says Hibben, “and they took to New Mexico like ducks to water.”

Major headaches

Between 1969 and 1973, 93 oryx were released onto the missile range – and quickly began to reproduce. Researchers believed that the population would never grow beyond 500 to 600 and would remain within the Tularosa Basin. However, the animals proved to be extremely opportunistic, and quickly spread into the San Andres Mountains. Some observers estimate the current oryx population at 5,000 or more, and animals have been spotted from 60 miles south of Albuquerque all the way down to West Texas.

“Oryx do not go through a rut,” says Patrick Morrow, a wildlife biologist at White Sands Missile Range. “Even in the Kalahari, they have the ability to mate and breed year round. But conditions are much harsher there, and African lions prey on them. Here, their only predator is man.”

Since 1974, hunters have killed approximately 5,000 oryx, says Morrow. The first year, the missile range and New Mexico Game and Fish issued only four hunting permits for oryx. This year, the agencies will issue 895 once-in-a-lifetime permits, and Game and Fish will issue 500 year-round permits for hunts off-range.

“Eventually, we’d like to see no oryx outside missile range boundaries,” says Patrick Mathis, area game manager at the New Mexico Game and Fish Department. “We want to decrease the herd on the range to 1,000 animals – down

I received this e-mail from Errol who could not post his comment. I tried to post it for him and could not. So, I have made a new posting showing his comment and I hope that any of you who had received similar notices will let me know. Thanks for sharing this Errol and I hope it does not happen again. I did not do anything to stop comments and I have not done anything to try and correct the 403 error…matter of fact, I don’t have the foggiest idea what to do about it. Maybe some of our readers can help us out. Pete

The kind webmaster must have this posting closed to comments since I always got
an error message when I tried to post it. At any rate, the following is my
comment made through email:

I wonder what would happen if Geronimo did come
home. He might resurrect an invading force and lead his disenfranchised brethern
in an invasion force and surround the governor’s mansion in Santa Fe demanding
the right to build a casino. Personally, I believe that the free market should
decide the viability of a casino in Lordsburg. If the descendant brethren of
Geronimo can raise the necessary funds to build their casino, then they should
be allowed to do so and let the free market decide. After all, the descendants
of Geronimo are supposed to be a free nation which has nothing to do with the
state government in Santa Fe as long as they behave themselves and not become
envolved in an insurrection. Let the Fort Sill Tribe have their freedom. Some
casinos are doing well while others are closing. The ghost of Geronimo just may
have the management skills to makes theirs survive and thrive. They are
Americans. Let’s give them the chance.

I wrote this back in February, 2010. An update is below this postings.

Ok, time for another installment of my stuff writing. Now you remember me telling you in the camping stuff post about Cibola National Forest being broken up into three segments, right? Well, I want to tell you about the section west of Socorro. If you look at a New Mexico map and see the towns (that may be  overstating facts) of Winston and Chloride. Ok, just north of there at the tail end of the Cibola National Forest and at the county line lies the Reservation of the Warm Spring Apache Tribe (abandoned) that I have researched so much and have developed a fondness.(Some maps will show it).  Chief Victorio was one of the most fierce of all the Apache chieftains, but we certainly pushed him in that direction. After all, he stood in the way of silver mining and potential gold mining and copper mining for goodness sake. We could not let that happen by some 400  strong tribe (probably at their biggest), could we? His tribe was massacred Oct 14 and 15, 1880 down in Mexico. The remnants of the tribe joined Geronimo and the Chiricahuas. Well, we conquered them and kept them and the Chiricahua tribe prisoners of war for 27 years. We hauled them off to Florida, Alabama and then Oklahoma and said this is your new home boys, never to return….I don’t know why, but the reservation lies idle today, and I guess it is to allow the spirits of the Warm Spring Tribe to forever enjoy that area they so dearly cherished and called home….You remember our Govornor disallowed the Fort Sill Apaches to build a casino down at Lordsburg, huh? They are some of the descendants of the Warm Springs and Chiricahua…We did not need another casino, but had it been me, I would have allowed it just because of the history of the tribe…I have Mississippi Choctaw blood from my Granny Hester, I’m not sure how strong, but I guess it’s strong enough to feel some kinship for my Apache brothers….

March 20, 1015….Albuquerque Journal reported today that the Fort Sill Apaches did not deserve a casino in New Mexico or maybe better said, would not be allowed to build a casino in New Mexico. That kind of upsets me. I am not a member of that tribe nor do I know anyone in that tribe…But, the Warm Spring Apache (written about above) led by Nana after Victorio’s death in 1880 joined the Chiricahuas with the few remaining members of the Warm Spring group, including Charlie, Victorio’s son. The Warm Spring tribe called New Mexico home. Their reservation still remains exact where I said it was above, just south of the Cibola National Forest. With all the information available, including mine, which is the least of all that information, tells that the Fort Sill Tribe in Oklahoma is in fact, from New Mexico and Arizona. So, Governor, deny the Fort Sill Tribe a casino if you must, but the denial cannot be because they are not a New Mexico tribe….No one listens to me….No one listens to them….It’s sad….I wish Geronimo could come home…Does anyone else?