Thursday, March 22, 2007

Birdie season
The local birds are definitely nesting. I've observed courtship behavior in the great-tailed grackles (much more pleasant than their smaller cousins back home in VA). The doves continue their coo-fests. Mated pairs of what I think are greater kiskadees (or something with nearly identical markings) visit the yard regularly. I heard a mockingbird for the first time this evening, a pleasant reminder of home. Best of all, I've spotted a hummingbird nearly every day for the last week. I guess that means it's officially spring. Spring also means a return to regular lawn-mowing and hedge-trimming (both of which I need to do).

Boots would argue that the best part is she has more birdies to chase, but she's a dog. What do you expect?

Monday, March 12, 2007

Sudden shifts in the weather
Here's what I got on my Google home page this morning:
It appears it'll be a bit brisk hereabouts! (And, no, it's not displaying Celsius.)


An hour or so later, the correct forecast showed up.

Right now, it's about 74 degrees and overcast under a very white sky. Not dark and dreary enough to be seriously depressing, but not exactly inspiring, either. The only distinguishable clouds are on the mountain, where they shroud the upper half, scudding along like wayward sheep.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Emily's off to Merida
I dropped Emily off at the airport this morning. She's headed out to Merida (down on the Yucatan) as part of the US presence for the upcoming Presidential visit. She probably won't see, let alone meet, any of the dignitaries, given the number of people involved and a no doubt busy schedule. I expect she'll work a lot, socialize very little, and take full advantage of the hotel room's bath tub.

(Apparently there was a study or news article here many years ago stating that tubs were less hygienic than showers. As a result, there are very few tubs in the housing pool here. Emily really misses her tub time.)

So, me and Boots have nearly two weeks alone, followed by one day with Emily, followed by another flight, this one back to visit her parents. I have lots of class work to do, several exams to take, and plenty of other things to keep me out of trouble. Still, it's going to be quiet for a while.
Emily makes the news!
Okay, not really. A case Emily was involved with made the local news recently. Often Emily's day is composed of replacing passports, visiting US citizens in Mexican prisons, or trying to explain to the nice, but unqualified applicant, that she can't approve his visa. Other times she has to deal with things like this:
My San Antonio site story
My San Antonio site story - updated.
Dallas News
Dallas - Fort Worth ABC affiliate story

It was a long night. She worked late and stressed over the incident all evening. Privacy concerns prevent her from discussing details, but it was a very sad incident.

Background and terms:
  • Visas are for non-US citizens only
  • New babies of American Citizens apply at the consulate for Consular Reports of Birth Abroad - CRBAs - as proof of the child's citizenship and to serve as a birth certificate in the US
  • CRBA's are the "seed" citizenship document and can be used to cross the land border or obtain a passport. Because of the importance of this seed document, CRBA applications are closely scrutinized.
While I was trying to dig up any additional news coverage, I stumbled across this article on the California Family Law Blog. The situation appears to be similar.

Friday, March 02, 2007

Brain Man
I hit the following link off a completely unrelated story and found it fascinating. They're from 60 Minutes and focus on "Brain Man." After watching those segments, I turned to Google and found a few more at the Discover/Science channel. Now I'll have to hunt down the documentary about him....

I do hope that the scientific and medical establishments keep track of this guy (to the extent he wants it). I also hope he finds his "true calling" in life. Perhaps he'll be the one to make a huge breakthrough in compression algorithms or encryption. The potential is there.

On a completely unrelated note, I stopped by the Consulate this afternoon to get my Hepatitis-B booster shot. My pretty yellow shot record is now complete... until the next post.

Thursday, March 01, 2007


And you thought it was cold in the States!
I was cleaning up my computer desktop and came across this one; I'd forgotten all about it. There was something wrong with whatever weather site Google was using (wunderground.com, I think) on January 8, 2007. It's not quite as bad as the forecast discussed on NPR a while back. Apparently San Jose, CA, was set for a record low back in December: -30,000 F. Still, this was an eye-opener for someone enjoying the Mexican climate.

Meanwhile, it's in the mid-70s now, with a predicted high of 86 or so. The orange tree next door is starting to bloom (caught a whiff of it this morning) and one down the street is so fragrant you can smell it from up to half a block away. The doves must be starting to breed: it's a non-stop coo-fest from dawn to dusk, not that I mind. As long as I don't find lost chicks in the yard, like the robins back in VA every spring, I have nothing against the birdies.

Yesterday I mowed the grass and watered the lawn for the first time this year; the hedges and other plants are watered every other day or so, at least until we get some more rain. My hedges are completely out of control. I hope to get around to cutting them this weekend. I'll get some before-and-after shots and post them up.