Albuquerque Hiatus

Image from Breaking Bad is a sitcom - only darker than most.

I will be traveling to Albuquerque for the International Balloon Fiesta this week, so blogging per usual may be sporadic and haphazard!

First As Tragedy; Then As Farce

In trouble with the law:

Now Davis -- who was freed in March after two months in Pakistani custody only after a deal was reached to pay $2.34 million in 'blood money' to the victims' families -- on Saturday was arrested after a scuffle outside an Einstein Bagels south of Denver, the Associated Press reports.

According to a local ABC affiliate, Davis and another man got in an argument over a parking space, and things allegedly got physical. Davis was allegedly the aggressor, according to the report.

Protester Talks To FOX News

What are the odds they'll never air it?

$2 Million Grant To Measure Snowpack

Roger Bales was in the news today. He was one of my Ph.D. advisors, and it's good to see him bringing in the big grants. And Martha Conklin's there too!:

Researchers with the Sierra Nevada Research Institute at the University of California, Merced, have received a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to expand on a prototype system that uses a network of wireless sensors to track snowpack depth, water storage in soil, stream flow, and water use by vegetation in the Sierra — information that is key to efficient water usage.

The research team, led by SNRI Director and UC Merced Professor Roger Bales and UC Berkeley Professor Steven Glaser, will develop and implement a network of sensors throughout the 2,000-square-mile American River Basin of the Sierra Nevada, serving as the largest prototype yet of a system that could ultimately provide water managers in California the ability to better predict snowmelt runoff, the source of much of the state’s water supply.

...The $2 million grant will last for four years. The senior research team is rounded out by UC Merced Professor Martha Conklin and Danny Marks of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service.

"Thank You!" From The State Of California

On Saturday, I was sweeping the leaves from the parking lot behind my house. I do that periodically, even though it's the DMV parking lot, belonging to the State of California, and not my parking lot at all.

I tend to view the tree as mine, since it hangs over a portion of my yard. I keep after it for its leaf-dropping tendencies, but I suppose it's a complicated matter, since it also hangs over the neighbor's yard, as well as the DMV parking lot. The tree trunk is rooted just behind my fence, so I suppose it's an even more complicated matter, since it is rooted in the right of way of the alley and the sewage line, so it may technically belong to the City of Sacramento. In any event, for leaf-sweeping purposes, I treat the tree as mine.

A woman driving down the alley stopped and rolled down her window. "As a state employee, I just wanted to say 'thank you, thank you, thank you!' for what you're doing!" I replied: "Your welcome! My pleasure!"

We're neighbors, after all, and we have to watch out for each other.

Question Whose Answer I Might Not Like

Why does my garage and basement smell like a skunk?

"The King And I" - DMTC - Final Weekend

Arcade Fire - "Rebellion (Lies)/Month Of May"

Best band going!