Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Yes...New Mexico is part of the United States (at least for now...next year I may have to use my passport to fly outside of NM because of the RealID Act, but that's another story) and we do celebrate the Fourth in the grand style Carlsbad is known for.

First, we have not one but TWO parades. Apparently, there used to only be one but there was a disagreement between organizers on whether to start/stop in the same place and instead of one backing down or coming to a resolution, they just went there separate ways. So now there are two parades, one starting at 8am and one starting at 10am. Both too early in my opinion.

All this week at work we've been getting safety e-mails (my workplace is HUGE on safety). This was the first time though that I've seen a Fourth of July safety briefing that doesn't discourage doing fireworks at home. I'm used to the "Don't light fireworks at home, go to a professional show" type messages. There was nothing of the sort on these safety briefings...just safety tips for doing them at home.

But Carlsbad actually does have a decent professional show, so I've heard. They have it down at the park by the river, which is a block or two from my house so I'll mosey on there later today. They've been taking donations for it for about a month now, so it should be good. I've sent in my check to the fire department for it...so I better get my money's worth :-).

Farmer's Market...without the Farmers

Saturday morning I got up early and walked a mile to the farmer's market downtown, excited to see what I could pick up, knowing that there are orchards outside of town and a community garden in town. I wasn't expecting much, maybe two or three food stands and then maybe some arts&crafts people. When I got there to my surprise there were two people selling pottery, two groups with plants, and one person selling aguas frescas (like horchata, sandia, etc.)...and no fruits, vegetables or nuts. True, it's early in the season...but still, come on people, if I knew anything about pecans I would sell the ones off my tree, but alas no. Maybe I'll take some cookies out there and sell them. That's a thought....get a little side business going, I should look into this option :-).

Going Home to Prison...Carlsbad Style

I apologize for the lack of posts...I've been travelling a fair amount and haven't been in town to witness the classiness that is Carlsbad. I have started following the local paper, and enough happened this last weekend to warrant some blog posts starting with this one...the most amusing parts are in bold.

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Man facing charges after BB gun incident

From the Current-Argus
From the Current-Argus

Posted: 06/25/2010 09:05:43 PM MDT

CARLSBAD — A local man faces felony assault charges for an alleged rampage with a BB gun in search of a missing dog. Officers of the Carlsbad Police Department responded to the 700 block of North Main Street Sunday after receiving reports of a man identified as 21-year-old Jason Martinez pointing a rifle at people, a criminal complaint stated.

Upon arrival, the reporting officer said he came around the corner to find Martinez with a long barreled weapon in his hand, later determined to be a pump-action BB gun. The officer reported he originally thought the weapon was a .22 rifle and drew his AR-15 rifle, pointing it at Martinez and ordering him to drop the weapon.Martinez then reportedly turned and pointed the BB gun at the officer, who tookcover behind a dumpster and again ordered the man to drop the weapon.

Martinez appeared to become frightened upon the realization that the officer had an assault rifle and threw down the BB gun, although he would not get on the ground as ordered. Another officer tackled Martinez and he was arrested, the complaint stated.

Officers had also responded to the scene earlier that day on reports of a man with a pellet gun causing a disturbance. They had located Martinez, who reportedly told the officers he was looking for his little black dog and would shoot anyone who stole his dog. He said he would have no problem going to prison, which he considers home. He was given a warning by police at that time.

A resident at the scene reportedly told police that Martinez had pointed a rifle at him and yelled obscenities at him, demanding to know where his dog was. The resident said he retreated to his apartment, where he called police.

A pedestrian nearby reported to police that he had encountered Martinez, who allegedly had asked him about a black dog and took several swings at him, missing each time. The pedestrian identified Martinez in booking at the police department and his previous descriptions of the man matched Martinez, the complaint stated.

Martinez reportedly admitted to police that he grabbed the BB gun and went in search of his missing dog, although he said he did not point the weapon at anyone.

"It was just a BB gun and I did not do anything, I am just looking for my dog," he reportedly said.

He apologized for pointing the weapon at the officer and for being stupid, the complaint stated. He said police should have just shot him in the head and taken him out.

Jason Martinez, of the 700 block of North Canyon, pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault on a peace officer, aggravated assault and assault. He was placed on a secured bond of $10,000 by Magistrate Judge Henry Castaneda. His preliminary hearing is set for 11 a.m. July 8.

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Yeah...this happened about two blocks from my house, which is in a decent neighborhood (or at least I think it's pretty good, it's a lot like my neighborhood in Bryan). But seriously... who takes a BB gun with them to look for a dog? And then, who's dumb enough to point it a police officers...with real weapons. Oh well...at least he's going home to prison :-) .

Cinco de Mayo

In honor of Cinco de Mayo I shall include a store brought to you by the two teenagers I overheard at the Roswell Target a while ago:

Girl #1: Dude...so I was born on Cinco de Mayo, but I came out white, it totally sucks.
Girl #2: Are your parents white?
Girl #1: Yes...
Girl #2: Well..duh!

Roswell...classier than Carlsbad, but not by much.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!

Apparently in Cbad...I'm a High Schooler

So this weekend I was mistaken for a high school student not once, but twice.

Time #1: I went to the high school play and the ticket lady asked me if I was a student...a CHS student.

Time #2: While waiting in line at the grocery store, I forgot something and asked the lady behind me, who looked like a track coach, all decked out in CHS colors, jogging wear, and had the track legs...they type that you can't not notice (for example, see Dr. Adams). She said "Only if you sprint," so I ran off. She then proceeded to tell me I should try out for the track team...and I proceeded to buy a bottle of wine.

So basically...since I don't have a kid I guess I'm a high school student. Classy.

Life in a Carlsbad Hotel

So you may or may not know that I lived in a hotel for over two months, actually one of the better hotels in town. My room was one of the suites, one of the better suites to be exact, so it had a kitchenette and a sitting room. Don't let this fool you...this hotel was pretty classy:

• Apparently the designers/hotel management had no concept of thermodynamics...they put the smoking rooms on the bottom floor and the nonsmoking rooms on the top. Coming home and having the smell of cigarettes (or pot for a few days) hit me was totally cool (yeah...no).
• Normally when you have a kitchenette in the hotel, you usually get silverware, cups, plates, maybe even cooking supplies like pots and pans (or at least you can request them)...not so in Carlsbad. Apparently they had such a problem with people stealing them they stopped handing them out, or even having them available on request. Very lame actually for someone living out of a suitcase in a hotel.
• Once I came out to find a family having a bar-b-que in front of their hotel room door on a camper grill.
• The third night I lived there I was turning into the hotel and the entrance was blocked by two police cars and an ambulance...later I found out someone was shot there
• One Saturday morning I awoke to find about a dozen kids playing some sort of run around and beat eachother up game around the whole hotel...they looked like local kids which was even better

Ahhh the _____ Inn, you can see they have a lounge, which will be the subject of a whole other post...get excited. Yeah, it's totally classy.

Classy Carlsbad Moment #3

Since I moved to Carlsbad I have noticed a change in my driving habits:

• Once you can't see the town anymore, it is fully permissible to go 90+mph no matter what the speed limit. If you go below 70 (even if the speed limit is 55 and the road has no shoulder, no center line, and cows walking across it at random intervals) you will be passed...probably by big oil trucks.
• Red lights: Some places say "red lights are just suggestions" but here is a whole different story...if it just turned red and you don't run it, you have the possibility of getting rear ended. I have noticed my feelings towards red lights go from "OMG it's yellow I'm going to get a ticket if I don't slam on breaks, :::screeeeech:::" to "eh, it just turned red, plenty of time to make it through." ::drive leisurely through intersection::
• The vehicles themselves: Range from grandma cars to bad-ass trucks to low-riders. Once just driving down the street by my house I saw about 5 low-riders just cruising...and that was a side street.

Here is my favorite low-rider picture...this was taken in Santa Fe though in front of the DMV:

All fine and good...but look at it closely:

Could it be pot leaves and dollar signs stenciled on a green glitter background? Oh yes...Classy.

Classy Carlsbad Moment #2

I couldn't get a picture of the guy selling baby turtles on Canal Street (the main street through town) yesterday, so here's an article from a robbery that took place just before Christmas:

Store manager thwarts meat heist

CARLSBAD — An alert grocery store manager in Carlsbad thwarted a big meat heist last week. An Albertsons' manager said a man attempted to leave the store Dec. 13 with a shopping cart full of choice beef including five 10-pound chubs of meat, two rib-eye roasts, six packages of pork ribs, four sirloin steaks and five packages of chicken breasts. A police complaint said the total value of the items came to $501.05. As the female manager attempted to stop the man, he became startled, fled and left the cart and meat behind. Police reviewed surveillance video from the store and saw a man placing items into a cart. They later arrested 43-year-old Manuel Cabazuela, described as being a transient. Cabazuela entered no plea to charges of shoplifting more than $500 but less than $2,500.

Classy.

Classy Carlsbad Moment #1

To start this off I needed a really good one...I think this covers it:



and a close-up of the other side:



Yes, that is a converted U-Haul truck selling various car accessories (written with a marker on the side) off of our main drag. Classy.

Let's get this Blog Started!

As it says in my "About Me" I moved here earlier this year for work and since then have been coming up with ways to describe Carlsbad to various family and friends. Descriptions I have either come up with or heard are: "The complete opposite of Portland, Oregon." and "What America would look like after a zombie apocalypse." Also, I would tell them different things I have observed around town and throughout the state, commonly called "Classy Carlsbad Moments." There is a totally different mentality here when it comes to just about anything. Don't get me wrong, I actually like living here...it's an entertaining town that's to be sure and far removed from the fast-paced life in a college town I was used to. I guess living 2-3 hours from the nearest "real" city (meaning El Paso, Lubbock and Midland) in the middle of a desert does that to you. So enjoy my "Classy Carlsbad Moments!"