On Happiness

A financial magazine featured an article on ways to ensure a happy retirement. One method was to surround yourself with happy people. Here's what they had to say:

"A 2008 study published in the British Medical Journal found that interacting with happy people increases your own chances of happiness. And the difference is quantifiable: Knowing someone who is happy makes you 15.3% more likely to be happy yourself, according to the study. In effect, happiness is contagious...

The study also found that coworkers have no measurable effect on individual happiness...

People who are in close geographic proximity spread their good cheer most effectively, so consider developing and nurturing relationships in your own neighborhood."

Memorial Day Weekend

When did Memorial Day weekend become a time to dust off the grill, buy beer, and invite friends and neighbors over? I always thought it was a strange concept to have so much fun on a weekend designed to commemorate those who have died in military service. It's a subject people don't like talking about.

The only major exposure relating to Memorial Day I've seen this year has been through the media. Even though the news is full of war updates and troubling events, the news sectors are one of the few that still recognize the holiday for what it stands for because of its ties to such events. The D.C. area also does a phenomenal job of recognizing Memorial Day. I spent last year's Memorial Day in D.C.

The bikers drove from all over the country to meet in D.C. They received a lot of cheers from the tourists and crowds.

The Vietnam War Memorial was simple and elegant. At the beginning of the walk, the Memorial lists the names of people who died during the first year. The wall continues to list names of the dead for the following years. The wall was constructed to show the growing magnitude of casualties throughout the war with its widening and lengthy list as the years passed.

Another observation about these weekends is that I always remember it raining at some point. I shrugged it off as coincidence in the Midwest, but sunny Albuquerque even had rain Saturday morning.

I don't know what I expect people to do, and I'm certainly not boycotting cookouts this weekend but I still can't shake off the thought of the strangeness in telling someone to have a super fun Memorial Day weekend.

Tiempo Perfecto

The Spring weather in Albuquerque is phenomenal. The sunny skies would put a smile on anyone's face. Capturing bad weather in a photo seems to express its danger or dreadfulness easily, as seen in photos of thunderstorms, tornadoes, or hurricanes. Great weather is not so apparent in photos, as seen in my attempt above.

Believe it or not, the sun was shining brightly this day. The heat of the sun was complemented by the dry breeze that occasionally and politely passed through everything in its path. The desert brown was overshadowed by the contrasting bright greens of the trees and the blues of the sky. The mountainous backdrop topped off the scene.

I got a call from someone in the Midwest and received a report of the rain in the region. I was so lost in the perfect weather, I had forgotten that bad weather even existed. It was difficult to imagine a stormy day at the time.

I also decided that Albuquerque in the Springtime is the best time to eat M&Ms. A bowl of M&Ms left in the house with no air conditioning, just fans and windows, will give just the right crunchiness to the shell. Just wonderful.

The Big Texan

It takes vision for someone to open a restaurant like The Big Texan. Famous for its 72 oz steak challenge, The Big Texan makes up for its mediocre food with a highly entertaining atmosphere. It sits right along Route 66 in Amarillo, Texas making it an easy stop for large groups and families. The outside of the building is a great place for pictures with its bright colors and gaudy props.

My group opted to call in for the free limo service the restaurant offers. Don, the driver, was loaded with funny stories about international travelers and his ex-wife. The car horn even moo-ed!

This is the infamous table that sets the stage for the chuck of meat and any other up-chuck. It is set with the one hour clock ready for the group of four who were going to attempt it later that evening.

This display showcases the steak and its fixin's that must be devoured before declaring victory and receiving the meal for free. It includes the 72 oz. steak, baked potato, salad, 3 cocktail shrimps, and dinner roll.
The most creative method I heard in eating the steak was to line the salad in the middle of the steak, then fold and eat the steak like a taco. This piece of cow was the size of my head. I even put my head right next to it for confirmation.

This last photo shows the closest I got to attempting the challenge. I ended up ordering a 6 oz. steak, and I was plenty full.

Cacti

The prickly pear cactus is my current favorite cacti in New Mexico. I struck gold in Carlsbad when I stumbled upon this wild garden of prickly pears on the drive to the Caverns. It was an incredible sight. Despite its name and its spikey hairs, these cacti seem friendly. The shape reminds me of oven mitts I want to shake hands with or pancakes I could take a bite from (both bad ideas). Look at how social they are too. They congregate together ensuring no one gets through them. It's like they know its own expensive listed store price and proudly shines with the Southwestern sun.

Slumdog Millionaire

Excellent movie. It helped that I was craving something different, fresh, and cultural. I am amazed when people fuse and modify the traditional with the modern styles and do it well. This was seen in the style of the movie and the music accompanying it.

This movie appeals to American audiences. After being inundated with steroid-injected, action-packed movies, Americans were ready for something real and human. Slumdog Millionaire offered entertainment while offering a current, global perspective. I don't know how accurate the depiction of Mumbai is in the movie, but it still puts the audience face-to-face with domestic and economic battles so easily overlooked in daily life in the U.S. Considering the economic downturn the world is facing, I can't help but feel guilty for continuing life as usual with my main concern being how I'll entertain myself tomorrow or this weekend. It seems so selfish. In a far-fetched way, this movie made me feel better. It was entertainment, but it pointed out real problems. It made me think about the big problems again and how widespread they are.

Life is all about the moments, and this movie captures moments so well. Whether good or bad, moments are so dramatic that they become memorable and inescapable. Along the same theme of moments is the movie's focus. The characters had clear goals and motivations strung with complex obstacles. That made me wonder if my extensive list of goals actually prevents me from accomplishing any of them. With that said, I admired Jamal's determination to get what he wanted one step at a time. Jamal, the protagonist, was an easy character to empathize with and truly stole the show.

Skiing

People always talk about the uphill battle. I discovered the downhill battle last month called skiing. Unlike most people in the world, skiing is just okay for me. I'd rather be enjoying other activities. The risk versus fun factors don't work in my favor. The important thing is that I tried it and not only once, but three times now.

For those who have never skied, let me break down what is needed.

Clothing
Warm pants (i.e. sweat pants, thermal underwear)
Thick socks (i.e. wool socks, apparently wool handles moisture better than cotton but not a big deal)
Snow bibs
Warm top (i.e. hoodie)
Ski coat (These things have SO many pockets. It is wonderful.)
Hat or helmet
Ski goggles or sunglasses
Sunscreen (for the face)

Equipment
Skis (Short skis are also available. They allow easier control for beginners. On the opposite end of the spectrum, experts may also use short skis to perform tricks. I rarely have seen short skis)
Ski boots
Ski poles

Tips That Make Life Easier
-Carry your skis over your shoulder.
-When walking downstairs with ski boots, walk backwards. Ski boots are difficult to walk in!
-Use the lockers. It's $0.75 each time it's accessed, but it's worth not walking from the car to the lodge in ski boots. Packing lunch and storing in the locker is also a bonus. The food at the lodge is typical, expensive, cafeteria food.

Ranking System
Bunny Hill: For learners
Greens: Low difficulty
Blues: Medium difficulty
Blacks: High difficulty
Double Blacks: High high (like Phelps at a party) difficulty. This might involve hiking to get to the start of a double black.

The Slopes
I've been to four ski slopes and skied on three in New Mexico. Each place has its own strengths.

Pajarito in Los Alamos
I took full day lessons here. The instructors were excellent and encouraging. The slopes are steep. The bunny hill would easily be ranked as a green in most other places.

Santa Fe
The slopes are more manageable than Pajarito. The bunny slope is incredibly tame. Snowboarders would have difficulty learning on the bunny, since it is fairly flat. I've been told that boarders need some slope to keep their momentum. The indoor lodge has more space than Pajarito, but at about the same quality. Out of state visitors enjoy Santa Fe, probably because of what the town offers outside of skiing.

Angel Fire
This is a great ski resort. The slopes are very manageable, and I was comfortable going down all of its greens. The view here is pleasantly striking. The greatest strength Angel Fire has over the other ski valleys is that they label all their slopes with clear signs, so people like me don't mistakenly go down a blue when the intent was to ski a green slope. Snow tubing is an option for people in the afternoons. The three lane runways are great for racing with friends, and a conveyor belt takes all the tubers right back to the starting line.

Taos
I can't speak much to the actual skiing, since I bailed on this adventure. I have heard that Taos has steep and narrow slopes with deep drop-offs. A more advanced skier would have a greater appreciation for the Taos Mountain. I spent some time at St. Bernards having coffee and tapping onto the hotel/restaurant's wireless internet. It was a warm place with a free-roaming dog, typical of the Taos culture. I highly recommend St. Bernards for the ones that decide to skip on skiing with their buddies and just enjoy the resort. Another option is snowmobiling with Big Al. It is a 2-hour tour of the Taos mountain on snowmobiles. I haven't decided if it was worth $70, but I do know I enjoyed it.


Finally, for the non-believers, here's evidence of me skiing.

Taos

I haven't done justice to New Mexico. The natural backdrop here is beautiful. It is easy to forget to look and appreciate the mystic-looking mountains. That's when I know I'm getting comfortable here. It sometimes takes a rainbow spanning the mountain peaks to remind me. There were three rainbows in one week too.

There is more than mountains. The towns here look and feel local. Taos is a great example. My friends and I rented a house for the weekend in Taos a few weeks ago. Here are some pictures of and around the house.







Besides being a skiing town, Taos has a magnificent view of the Rio Grande Gorge. A fairly simple bridge runs across the gorge. The best part is seeing the initial drop off. The image hit me so suddenly when driving up to it that the moment deservedly got a long "Wwwow."



For the ones that love being green, Earthship demonstrates a model home that is constructed from recycled materials and is self-sufficient. This detour was certainly interesting. It offered solutions for people that have wondered how to build such a home. The challenge is wondering if one could substitute modern conveniences for such a simple life. Earthship homes have been built internationally, and several neighborhoods exist within New Mexico.




I haven't even tapped into the art scene in Taos. Metal sculpture, painting, pottery, jewelry, and even a Taos drum factory outlet store can be found in pockets of the town. Small bed & breakfasts inns give the Best Western and Days Inn tough competition. At first glance, I thought Taos was a sleepy town revolved around skiing. After two trips to Taos, its hidden charms are growing on me.

Whine-fest and Thought Vomit

One day I'll read this and cringe. I'm going to be super negative tonight. I'm just fed up with some stuff, and I'm going head first with no constraint.

I'll start off by why I haven't written in awhile. I've felt that I had other obligations that I had to do first, and this blog is secondary. The obligations weren't necessarily important, but I was trying to prioritize my laundry list. My prioritization system failed me. Sometimes I should just do what I want to do and throw my reasons out the window.

Another point of irritation for me is the lack of respect for privacy. So what if someone wants to stay home and not go out. Leave them be. The person everyone is judging is probably at home building a multi-billion business plan anyway.

Now, I'll get into the idiosyncrasies of Albuquerque. My disclaimer is that I've discovered many wonderful things about New Mexico in the past few weeks that I've restrained myself from writing due to personal issues mentioned above.

I've just been caught at a bad time, so here goes. This city is so dark. Even the best neighborhoods are poorly lit. One light goes out on my front porch, and I can't even find the keyhole to my door. On top of the poorly lit city, the street signs are extremely difficult to read at night. I'm talking about major intersection street signs that are attached to the red, green, and yellow lights. I know the economy is bad, but let's invest in some new reflective street signs, Albuquerque. Please! Now, the cops. The cops have been very special to me this year. The cops seem to always find my parked car and pick a fight. So, Ms. Sena (you know who you are) has given me two tickets already. Go easy on me, will you? I'm pretty much a tourist in your state. You want to make a good impression. It's not just her, the police is crawling all over the place here. I'm not sure if I should feel protected or worried.

I realize this is all self-induced, but I haven't reached the maturity level to react to these situations gracefully. I keep finding myself wanting things differently from the social norm, yet I always fall into this status quo way of life and it's a whirlwind. I'm frustrated that I haven't built a strong enough backbone to resist this and march to my own tune. I thought I had it too. I've lost my beat somewhere along the way.

Talking To Strangers

How do you feel about talking to strangers? It's one step deeper than people watching, but it is quite a leap forward. I enjoy it. I also make sure I cut the conversation off fairly early in the game, and there are exceptions. Keeping the conversation short (1.) doesn't creep out the stranger, invading their privacy and (2.) keeps a sense of mystery that allows me to hypothesize the stranger's life. In the short amount of interaction time, I am also careful to convince the stranger that I have no ulterior motives for talking to them.

With my heavy traveling these past two weeks, I have had the opportunity to observe some interactions at the airport and on the airplane. People's reactions are difficult to generalize. I met a flight attendant traveling as a passenger and a man and his sister on their way to vacation in Santa Fe who were all conversation initiators. That makes it easy for me. I insert a few questions and comments and these conversation initiators keep on going. The airplane is a great place for perfect strangers. The storytellers come from all different cities going to a new city with a mission in mind. So, there is always a topic to talk about and a new perspective to learn from.

I met a twenty-something hippie (who was reading The Story of B and instantly earned cool points) and a late forties woman that I initiated the conversations by sharing the delicious, Christmas cookies my friend generously sent me. Both reactions were very inviting and a bit shocking that I would share my cookies. I certainly didn't stick around to swap life stories, but these small interactions have big impacts. I could tell they both felt more comfortable sitting near me on the plane. The hippie and I silently nodded a farewell as I walked off the plane and the woman made short comments throughout the flight to me.

People love to connect with one another, but it is difficult for some people to break the initial barrier of conversation. For some, to do so is even abnormal and makes them uncomfortable. I hope more people open up the opportunity to meet others in our daily, physical lives to the point that talking to strangers is as unintimidating as friending a new person on an online social network. Meeting people the old fashion way is so much more rewarding than the online avenues.

Bass Pro Shopping

What do you think of when you see a 4-1/2' fish pillow at the Bass Pro Shop?

My mom started making the hand motions of preparing fish fillets. A true sign of a fisherman's wife.

The Vietnamese Crabshack

These photos may be graphic for the crab lovers out there. Here's a before and after shot of 10 crabs my family and I had for dinner. They were steamed and served with a lemon, salt, and pepper dipping sauce. Steamed shrimp was also served.

This type of dinner takes a long time to finish but is fun and a great way to get conversations going. It reminds me of a fondue dinner, where everyone has to work before eating.

Culture Is Back In My Life

New Mexico does have its cultural charms in place. I've been feeling the vibe that the air is certainly different here than my past few years living near the Stepford Housewives. My intuition was confirmed as I was thumbing through the weekly Alibi (in Kansas City terms, it's NM's Pitch).

Just a quick glance of the Community Calendar shows a broad range of dancing options. There's classes for African Dance, East Indian Dance, Tribal Belly Dance, Soul Dance, Adult Tap, and the list goes on. There's Yoga for men, women, and babies!

Art also dominates the cultural scenes with weekly poetry readings, lectures, and gallery shows.

I feel like I'm in my college days where the opportunities to learn new things are so accessible and affordable.

Today's Fortune Cookie

"To be mature is to accept imperfections."

Networking, the latest buzz word

Do, do, do is such doo doo.

Why do people feel like they should be doing stuff all the time. Chill out, everyone.

So, it's all about networking. I used to love the word, "networking." It was a great justification for socializing and going out. Recently, the word has begun to wear on me. The word itself is being overused. Good word, but it should be used a bit more sparingly than it is today.

Getting to know co-workers and customers at a personal level helps with business, but it does not define the relationship. Good business springs from technical confidence as well as personal interactions. It seems the trends are shifting over to personal interactions and away from technical aspects. Pharmaceutical sales comes into mind, but this idea applies to many working fields.

Instead of spending all of one's time networking, how about spending it on building one's knowledge base by reading or diving into a personal hobby? This leads to my plug for personal quiet time. This block of time is so important for people's mental health. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People strongly encourages people to take time to plan the week (setting short term goals) and continuously reflecting on the long term goals. These are individual activities.

I see people get criticized for choosing to stay in after being invited to social events. That is unfortunate. Again, it is a personal choice and a right to privacy (which is tough to have these days).

Perhaps, I am speaking for myself because I feel that my most productive hours were the ones "doing nothing." Others may feel that tangible social activities prove to be more productive for them. I would just put out a warning (and this is a reminder to myself) that doing something is not knowing it. I could drink beer all my life and not know a thing about it. If I did, though, it would just create more depth into what I know. It would be a topic of great conversation and would probably earn me some credibility with others. Again, I'm writing this to remind myself that personal time allows me to dig deep into a lot of topics.

The only networking I want to do for awhile is neural networking.

The Hybrid Model- A Woman's Lifestyle

Open-minded.

Adaptable.

Creative.

Compromising.

Those words might reflect a woman's attitude when she is considering her master life plan. I took a step back to piece together all the conversations I've had with women and the trends I've seen in the media concerning women's careers.

A woman's role used to be understood as the caregiver with respect to taking care of the home and family. That really has not changed to this day, but this was on a full-time basis. Of course, I think people had more children back then also. That is pure speculation. Feeding the masses was another huge responsibility mothers undertook. Drive-thru grub and instant meals were not prevalent as in today's world. Cooking (and the resulting cleaning involved) takes quite a chunk of the day now, it must be even more back then. For example, I watched in awe as my cousin biked through the streets of Vietnam daily to the local, outdoor market. She would gracefully haggle with the vendors to gather the raw ingredients for the day's meals. That took street smarts. If a guy has trouble in the supermarket, I'd like to see him handle this environment. My point is that there were a lot of factors that called for women to dedicate themselves fully to the home and family.

Then the full-time job turned from the home to the office. This could have been the result of the women's rights movement or a result of the changing economics. Either way, businesses would have reacted to this change by investing in day cares at their companies or teenagers advertising their baby-sitter qualifications. Restaurants undoubtedly benefited from this change and continue to adapt their services to family dynamics.

Now, the trend is to find the happy medium that has the flexibility to handle both the home and work. As the world turns as it always has, companies are opening policies to accommodate these demands, which really is a great movement.

With all this in mind, how is a woman supposed to plan for her future career?

It's no longer all or nothing, it's a hybrid of lifestyles. One quick comment about men. They must balance their lives as any woman does, but men's typical expectations are to work full-time advancing their corporate careers, family or no family. It is by nature a woman changes physically and mentally by starting a family. There are mothers who still work in the office full-time, which absolutely amazes me. It must be so demanding. There are mothers who work at home full-time, which poses another challenge. How will she return to the office again?

The 2-, 5-, 10- year career plans may need to be revisited. A decision block may need to be added to the flow chart diverting the corporate route to a family route that includes an option for part-time jobs. For some working fields, flexibility is an advantage. For other fields, additional college education and certifications would be required to take on more flexible jobs. So, should one plan for a flexible job too?

I have double standard feelings about the whole topic. The media statistically show women are not making as much money or are not reaching the corporate power levels as men, but I wonder if that is a discrimination or a balancing act women sacrifice between work and family. The working mother may not think it is worth even-ing out the statistics by sacrificing her role in the family. She may not focus as much on her career since her family role lies heavily with the kids. In this case, it is a woman's choice, not her inadequacy, to fulfill a high corporate position. That's one reason why I think this is a slow trend. I think it's great that a family can have a financial ability for one of the parents to raise their children. At the same time, I like seeing a woman go to the top of the charts.

I have heard several conversations that dance around these topics, and as with any life choice decisions, there is no general answer. It is a personal choice. For the most part, people make the right ones too.

Hiking the Sandia Mountains

It's been about a month since I've gone on the Old La Luz Trail Hike, but I had to share some of the photos I took. It was a gorgeous hike during the fall season. The 7-mile trail led my group and I to the top of the Sandia Mountians, where we took the Tramway back down. It took the group and I about 4-5 hours to complete, including lunch breaks. It was the first time I truly felt the effects of altitude on my breathing.

This shows the Donald Duck rock formation. It was definitely the comical relief during the uphill hike.

This was taken after the lunch break. It was a very memorable portion of the hike. The fallen yellow leaves contrasted so well with the white tree barks, and the occasional green plants accented the scene. Nature's soundtrack was just as fitting with the crunching leaves as the hikers walked and the water brooks in the background. It was a poet's dream.
The fall season can be easily detected in this photo. The scenic mix of mountains and trees definitely portrays the Southwest flavor of beauty.

Now we're getting so close to the Tramway, we can see it. Thank goodness.

Here is a top view of Albuquerque from the peak of the mountains.

Just a Physical Move

People move for several reasons. The most common reason I've noticed is for work, and I fall into this category. Only after a couple of weeks of implanting myself into a new state, I realized I was spending my time the same way I had always done. This made me think about people who move to avoid bad situations.

Relocating doesn't change habits or personality traits. It does, however, give a sense of a fresh start. The change in environment and people may be enough to influence a personal transformation, but it would be a gradual process.

My point is that I do the same things and think the same way regardless of all the changes that happen around me. The surroundings do influence me, but it will take time before any of those repercussions show. I should check in with myself in a few months.

Big Bunny

I found my next vacation spot!

Giant bunny article

Water in the Desert

Mmm... H2O. Drink plenty in ABQ, or you'll get headaches!