Diddling Around With Albuquerque

We (not the editorial we but we the people) had a municipal election yesterday.  A whopping 8% turnout.  Not sure if that's 8% of registered voters or just of those people of voting age living in the City of Albuquerque--aka Burque or just ABQ.  Not important.  It's a dismal number because most of us know that it's useless to vote for any of the politicians that were running.

Oh, sure.  We elect a new politician every now and then.  It takes them about a year to start doing the same damn things the old politician was doing, sometimes doing them even better (worse?) than the old one.  Case in point:  A couple mayoral admins ago, the city started converting perfectly good traffic lanes to bicycle lanes.  It's an if-you-build-it-they-will-ride-their-bicycles mentality.  When we finally got a conservative mayor into office, I expected this nonsense would stop.  After all, everyone continually complains about lack of jobs; and employers don't move jobs into a city just because their new employees can ride their bikes to work.  (Unless the employer is a totally Californicated liberal moonbeam microchipped dotcom 3D animation studio tofu for breakfast lunch and dinner type--and they don't give a flying rat's patoo about Albuquerque even with the bicycle lanes).

To be fair, movies are made in and around Albuquerque and New Mexico--a couple infamous TV series, too.  But I guarantee none of them want their people to show up for shooting on bicycles.  They roar into town with motorcades sufficient to carry a UN full of dignitaries, and convoys of industrial-sized wheels enough to carry on a major offensive in a third-world country.  Not many bicycles, though.

In case you were wondering, I'm telling you the nonsense of converting traffic lanes to bicycle lanes is continuing, depriving residents who do actually need to drive to work of both sufficient roadways and sufficient parking, sometimes in front of their own houses.  Since Albuquerque has never seen its way clear to outlaw overnight street parking, which would make the city look a lot better to outsiders, suddenly taking away on-street parking spaces is problematic at best, a slap in the face to local residents, and a pander to the bicycle lobby.   (I respect anyone who can pedal a bike more than a block at Albuquerque's altitude, and don't suggest we should deprive anyone of the opportunity to do so.  Let's just be smart about it.)

Another interesting diddle is the transit service.  This consists of the bus system and the Richardsonian (not architecture but former Gov. Bill Richardson) commuter train called Rail Runner Express, for which the State of New Mexico is and will be grandly paying for years to come.  The bus system has three subdivisions, that I can see:  The normal bus routes, the so-called Rapid Ride (faster? No.), and the on-call system for disabled and elderly.  Collectively, the bus systems is known as ABQ Ride.  As far as I can tell, the bus system is under-utilized and not particularly convenient.  Sure there are peak times when the buses are full, but then there are times during any day you can see an ad-wrapped bus scooting up the street with nobody on board, convenient for nobody but the lawyer who bought the ad.  (They sell ad-wrap advertising to cover the windows and keep you from seeing this, I think.)  So now the mayor wants to start a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) by taking more than the usual bike lanes from Old US 66, aka Central Avenue, the city's only iconic business thorofare.  It's feature controlled signalling for cross traffic, special bus stations in the medians, and other golly-gosh fru-fru.  Believe me.  That's what the Rapid Ride (vapid ride?) was supposed to have.

Meanwhile, the Rail Runner was supposed to stimulate TOD (Transit Oriented Development), and hasn't.  The only thing that developed is a drain on the treasury.  And everybody goes ga-ga for these improvements every time they're introduced and nobody ever . . . EVER . . . thinks about the cost of maintenance and depreciation of these systems once they're built.  Only the best way to get federal funding so some connected contractor can have a new Porsche and his crews can have a job for a few months one year.

I'll keep my vote to myself.  Thank you very much.

©2015 C. A. Turek - mistertrains@gmail.com

Eyes to See With, Ears to Hear

Yeah, it's a biblical phrase.  So sue me!  The fact that half the population of the U.S. can turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the crap being pulled by the political left is frustrating to the extreme.  

So I'm going to treat you to a blog rant right here!

Let's start with the (still-meeting, still trying to avoid solid legislation) New Mexico legislature.  First frustration:  How can anybody think that "social promotion" of a third-grader to the next grade when he or she can't read to grade level is good for the child?  But that's what the "progressives" want to continue.  After all, like the War on Poverty, it has worked so well for so long that we've got three generations of public school "graduates" who are illiterate in several languages.  The argument is that being held back is a stigma, and maybe we should do something like "extra help" during regular class time in the next grade.

I don't know when these people were in school, but the guy/girl who gets set aside for "extra help" in the classroom is the one who is going to be teased.  So much for stigma.  On the other hand, the child who was held back will have a mild advantage over the new kids in the old grade.  Perhaps the advantage will give the held-back child the confidence to excel and get the heck back to grade level.  Since social promotion hasn't worked, it's worth a shot to do it the other way for awhile.

Next frustration: Somehow, the progressives argue, driver's licenses make those who have them better and more responsible drivers.  What hole have their heads been in?  Just because New Mexico grants a non-restricted driver's license to those who are illegally in the U.S., it hasn't made the streets of Albuquerque any safer, nor has it made them any better insured.  It's a hollow argument that those of us who are conservative will never win because granting driver's licenses to illegals just may give the progressives the opportunity to let them vote for their side in the next election.  Come on, people!

Another frustration:  Right to Work (followed by a strong dose of increasing the minimum wage).  It's impossible to logically argue that forcing someone to pay union dues to get a job is vital to growing a flourishing business community.  Let's face it!  No employer considering a move to, or opening a business in New Mexico wants to have to deal with the extra costs associated with collecting union dues.  And Right to Work does not prohibit unions from organizing once the business is open.  Let's not put the cart before the horse.  Bring in the business!  If the business is then established in the state and then treats its workers badly, bring in the unions!

I've got more.  Lot's more.  Like the idiot conservatives who vigorously opposed Obamacare but are now complaining that a total abolition of Obamacare will hurt people that it has helped!  Hello! You don't know it has helped anyone!  The numbers aren't in yet, and if they are, they are being spoon fed to us in doses that have been adulterated by political crap.  Let's get rid of it before it hurts us all more than it already has!

©2015 - C. A. Turek - mistertrains@gmail.com

The Winter State Fair

The New Mexico Legislature is meeting again.  I like to think of it as the Winter State Fair.  Unlike the late summer event that takes place in Albuquerque, the winter version happens in Santa Fe at the capitol building we refer to as The Roundhouse.  It's either because they built it on an abandoned railroad yard or because of the punches thrown by legislators from one side of the aisle to the other.  Either way, more people go to Santa Fe to see the special events and have fun and games than go to Albuquerque in the summer for the carnival rides and beer.

I can predict two things with certainty:

1. Only about 10 percent of the bills introduced will be passed.  That's a good thing.  Only about 1 percent of the bills intruduced will probably have anything to do with real state business.  The rest of them will be things like naming the State Spinach Salad, or funding a study of whether it's shorter to drive to Santa Fe via I-25 or Highway 14.  Once the study establishes the shorter route, there will be heated debate as to whether they used the right kind of ruler.
2. It will cost New Mexico citizens more tax money.  I'll grant you that Republican Governor Martinez has kept her promise on taxes for the most part, but that doesn't mean those pesky little hidden taxes won't keep cropping up.  Things like increased tuition at state colleges, for example.

Other things that I can predict with confidence:

• There will be at least one constitutional crisis, as legislators are actually forced to read a copy.
• There may be a second crisis as it is determined that the legislature doesn't own a copy.
• At least one Democrat will call a specific Republican a bad name.
• At least 75 percent of the Democrats will call all Republicans a bad name.
• There will be livestock.
• The legislature will spend at least one afternoon debating who will clean up after the livestock.
• The Democrats will find undocumented workers to clean it up at less than minimum wage.
• The Democrats will propose several bills to raise the minimum wage.
• Global warming or climate change will be mentioned at least once in conjunction with each of the following: Oil and gas exploration, gas prices, jobs, education, beer, teacher pay, Republicans, the rich, the poor, green chiles, the homeless, Obamacare, Social Security, bean burritos, Medicare, minimum wage, baseball, beer, and, if they can get it all in, tamales, posole, enchiladas, sopapillas, and beer.

Because New Mexico has a citizen legislature, it only meets for one or two months a year.  This is also good.  It limits the damage that can be done and prevents the politicians from thinking of it as a real job.  This year, the Winter State Fair will go on for 60 days total.  Watch this page to see how many of my predictions come true.

© C. A. Turek - mistertrains@gmail.com

Giving Thanks

There hasn't been much to say this year.  Albuquerque and New Mexico are still in the recession that the gov'ment says ended years ago.  I look around me and home prices are stagnant and homes in my neighborhood are not selling anything like as fast as they once were.  The job guide in the Sunday paper is down to two pages, with at least 20 column-inches used up by an ad for, what else, putting ads in the newspaper.  Albuquerque is about to lose it's passenger train, Amtrak's Southwest Chief, because some people think that passenger rail is an anachronism and do not believe in a comprehensive multi-mode transportation policy for our country. They are shortsighted at best, and criminal in their assumptions at worst.

Nonetheless, in the coming few years we may get BRT (that's bus rapid transit, not bean rolled tacos) east and west on Central, the showplace of Albuquerque that shows a lot of places the city should not be proud of.

Nevertheless, in this time of Thanksgiving, I want to give thanks.  I am thankful that former Gov. Richardson's Rail Runner Express commuter train boondoggle has not yet bankrupted the state.  I'm thankful that we reelected a conservative governor and still have a conservative mayor of the City of Burque. I'm thankful that the Justice Department, the absolute last word in impeccable police work, has stepped in and told the APD (Albuquerque Police Dept., not another person dead) how to do its job.  Thank you Mr. Holder;

the citizens of Albuquerque and the State of New Mexico are certainly too stupid to figure this out for themselves.

I'm thankful that gas prices are falling.  It'll make up for all the money we now have to put into buying food.  I'm thankful that, according to the feds, there is no inflation, there is no inflation.  If something is repeated often enough, you will believe it.  I'm thankful that New Mexico set up an insurance exchange so that Obamacare can finance the uninsurable with my money.  At least they'll get great care at Kaseman Hospital or UNM Emergency Room (UNM stands for under nano-minute, the time it takes them to ask for your insurance card).

Sarcasm, innuendo, and outright snide comments aside, I am very thankful for my wonderful family and friends, my life, my liberty (such as still exists) and the free Blogger platform on which to spill my guts.  My all who stumble upon this blog and my regular reader have a happy, safe and sane Thanksgiving.

Been a Little Remiss

Unlike the APD, I've failed to take a potshot at anything in these blog pages for quite some time.  So let's get up to date.

The water authority apparently not only now plans to punish all of us conservation-minded water users for conserving too much water, but will also be raising rates just on general principles.  Now that's what I expect from a government entity.  There's always something they can do with your money.

The feds have decided that APD shoots too many people, particularly those who seem to be hell bent on getting shot.  I think they're jealous.  The feds want shooting people to be strictly a federal right.

The federal investigation of APD has a lot of people figuratively up in arms.  Not literally, or they might also get shot.  Protesters have staged at least two demonstrations demanding something be done about APD shootings, both of which have prevented something being done about APD shootings.

We've had a spate of warm weather, and we're still in a drought.  Luckily, the feds have come up with a plan to reduce global warming.  The power company says they are ready for the plan.  They've already printed the rate increases for the next 20 years and are covering the southwest with beautiful solar panels and windmills, and the wiring to string it all together.

And that's the latest update from the land of Alberkoikie.

The Price of Conservation

Or: Why did I turn off that sprinkler?

Here's a [link] for you "hug anything that Nancy Pelosi likes" folks.  It seems that water conservation is paying off (or failing to pay off) in good old Burque.   

It's paying off if, like me, you think that we of the Rio Grande Valley should not behave as though water is an unlimited resource.  It's clearly not.  Yet, for the years I've lived here, Albuquerque has boosted most of its prosperity from expanding urban sprawl and population--cut short by the Great Recession, which hasn't ended despite what the feds say.  City Quirky citizens have succeeded in reducing water consumption by so much that the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA--not to be confused with AMAFCA and MRCOG, a couple of our other interesting "authority" types) isn't taking in enough money!

So, to make water conservation pay off for the ABCWUA, they are "thinking about" raising water rates.  Now, whenever I hear about a political entity thinking about something that involves getting deeper into the pockets of us tax- and rate-payers, I know we've already lost the inning and probably the game.  It's like saying the Democrats are "thinking about" running somebody for president in 2016.  It's like saying the IRS is "thinking about" collecting taxes this April.  

The ABCWUA will want to soften the blow, of course.  So they announce the thought process to begin approximately 6 months before they know they'll actually impose the increase.  They will, undoubtedly, point out that those who conserved have been reaping the benefits of lower water bills, so they will just start paying closer to what they were paying before they conserved.  What a reward.  It's like your doctor saying you should eat better and keep your cholesterol low and you won't have a heart attack, but then telling you they are short on funds so they're going to do a bypass anyway.  They'll just charge you less for it.  

What about Me!?  I never had to conserve when asked, because I always conserved.  So I didn't reduce my bill.  I've been paying the same amount for water since Bill Clinton didn't have sex with That Woman.  (I think That Woman is Bat Woman's sister.)  I use six gallons of water to wash my car--two buckets.  I have low-flow toilets.  (Don't ask if my gut is low flow, too.)  So now me and so many of my friends are going to reap the coveted double reward:  Never got one for always conserving.  Now I'll pay increased amounts to compensate those who did get one for conserving.  Sounds more like the good old double screw to me.

Where's that leaky hose?

©2013 - C. A. Turek - mistertrains@gmail.com

All is Not Momentous

(Content first published on Medium.com.)

There are times when a lie is just a lie and the truth does not set us free; and neither is crucial enough to register on the meter.

For better and worse, we live in a world where those who can afford it can connect to everything, big and small, that happens in the world. Moreover, this can be done in a way that makes every event, no matter how inconsequential, seem crucial to our very existence.

I got to thinking about this when they recently re-opened the Statue of Liberty to visitors. I will gladly admit that I like this statue and I also like it being a symbol of freedom for America and those who would come here. As with every national symbol lately, an inordinate amount of time and effort—read money—is being spent to protect the statue from what a visitor might do. The imagination reels when thinking of what all of those things might be, and the idea of somebody damaging this symbol is suddenly elevated to the momentous, the crucial.

But America would be no less what it is without the statue. In fact, had it never been delivered to our shores, we would be able to designate any of a thousand other important symbols to stand in for her critical place in our national psyche. And elevate them to the absolutely crucial.

In today’s news: We should not care whether a magazine noted for its irreverence puts a mass murderer’s face on the cover. It is not crucial to the state of America that they do not. Nor is it particularly crucial for their circulations figures if they do. They counted on the media jumping right in with the rest of us and making the inconsequential into something consequential.

In similar fashion, one perceived miscarriage of justice—or unexpected serving of same—will not bring our judicial system to its knees; yet we believe that the tip of the iceberg is showing and that we cannot so much as look at it or our holy Titanic will sink.

There are crucial events. They come rarely. A train blowing up in Canada and decimating a small town is one of them. This will change the way important energy reserves are distributed to users for the rest of the century!

However, I am of the opinion that the mass media would not recognize a crucial event if it jumped out of a manhole under their figurative park bench and bit them in the collective nether regions. They are too busy aiding and abetting the politicians in turning everything into a critical mass, satisfying the snooze news cycle and keeping the ratings going. Come on! People! The small city where I live with less than a million population—one that still effectively rolls up the sidewalks at night, except those in front of the meth labs and DWI checkpoints—does not have to have an Evening News—with helicopters, no less—that lasts three hours. There just simply is not enough news of that import, meth labs or no.

Whether Rowling wants to write as a man or as a woman is not going to set literature back to the stone age. Snowden getting asylum in Russia will not restart the cold war. The races will learn to live with each other without show trials. And, oh! The features on the next iPhone will not be momentous, either.