This is a very brief post. 

Madonna's song from 1996, "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" has been my favorite song since about June of 2022. It gives me peace when I hear it or sing it. It is from the movie, "Evita".

An (Old) Boy and His Dog

Well, I finally bought a dog. A neighbor of mine seemed almost frantic when he was telling me about a little mixed breed puppy he wanted to sell. I normally like purebreds only, but this little pup had a lot of character. I asked the guy if the pup liked children. He said that he seemed to enjoy his nephew. I asked him how old his nephew is, and he said that he would have been nine tomorrow. As I have been writing this, my new puppy had been nibbling playfully on my leg. At first, it tickled a little. Now, as I look down at my leg, I see an unusually large amount of blood flowing across the carpet. I best end this little note as I'm starting to get a little light-headed. Tigger is looking at me right now with a kind of sinister look on his face as continues to chew on something. Whatever he's chewing seems to be the source of the blood on the carpet. I wonder if there's an urgent care nearby that's open on a holiday. I wonder if they make house calls. I wonder if I have enough time to get to my phone and call 911 before I

I finally came back to my Blogger account.

Today, I spent a lot of time at Blogger updating some old posts by adding new photos, and by changing the design of the blog. I hope to spend some time writing here in the future. Tomorrow is November 6, 2012: Election Day. I have already sent in my early ballot. Early voting is awesome. It's somewhat like having direct deposit: you don't have to worry about going to the bank on payday. I look forward to watching the election results tomorrow. I am a very private person when it comes to voting. I like to keep on my elections selections to myself. I hope that everyone that can will be able to vote on 11/6/2012.

World Trade Center Attack September 11, 2001

World Trade Center Attack September 11, 2001 Tuesday From “The Arizona Republic” DEC. 19, 2001 Wednesday : (Updated 9/11/03) First plane: American Airlines 767 Flight # 11 At 8:46:26 AM, local NYC time, the plane crashed into the 93rd through the 98th floors of WTC Tower 1. The plane had 92 people aboard. It was traveling at 500 miles per hour. It was carrying 15,000 gallons of fuel and it exploded with a force equal to 480,000 pounds of TNT. Second plane: United Airlines Flight # 175. This plane hit at 9:02:54 AM into Tower 2 of the WTC. It crashed into the 78th through the 84th floors of Tower 2. 479 rescue workers died trying to help people get out. This includes firefighters, policemen, security guards and people who just wanted to help. 1 hour, 42 minutes and 5 seconds was how much time elapsed from when the first plane hit up until the last WTC Tower collapsed. As of today, the death toll is about 2,803 people including rescue workers and 157 people on board the two planes. The death toll from all four hijackings is estimated at 3,046, not including the nineteen hijackers. On DEC. 7, 1941, 2,388 people died at Pearl Harbor. (2,795 died at WTC as of 11 01 02.) Tower 1: 1,434 died. Tower 2: 599 died. Tower 2 collapsed at 9:59:04 a.m. Tower 1 collapsed at 10:28:31 a.m. Each tower was 110 stories tall. The accurate times were taken from a seismograph connected to an atomic clock. The first impact registered as a 0.9 on their scale, equal to a small earthquake.

Savers Thrift Store

If you live near a Savers thrift store, but haven't shopped there yet, I would recommend giving it a try. Starting on Wednesday (I think), they have a price tag color that is half price. If the color for that week is green, then any item with a price tag with color will be half off the marked price. Also, whatever items that still remain at the end of the day Sunday with that color price tag, will be on sale the next day, Monday, for only 99 cents. I have bought jackets, pants, shorts, shoes, bathing suits, glassware, knick knacks, and many other items for 99 cents. You have to get there early as I see many people that will load up their cart with items with that days' color tag. Then then will go through that cart of items to see what the really want to buy. This especially happens in the clothes department. I try not to go too often now as I am a shopaholic and buy things I really don't need. When it comes to clothes, it never hurts to get a few pairs of pants, shorts or shoes for under a dollar for each item. I have an addiction for cool knick knacks and books. Not long ago, I bought a new hardbound copy of "The Appeal" by John Grisham, for 99 cents, as well as MANY other books in excellent condition. They have paperbacks also. Goodwill also has some excellent deals, but I don't know their schedule of sales from memory. I believe they have a 50% off sale every other Saturday on everything in the store. Both of these stores have a website which can be found by a quick search at Yahoo or Google.

Your money would make more money in the bank !

The Arizona Lottery changed the odds on at least two of its online lottery games.The game that I have played most often, The Pick 5, has made it harder to win the jackpot. There were a total of 35 numbers to choose from as of April 19, 2008. On April 20, the total number became 39. They added only four more numbers, but the odds changed significantly. They added a new way to win: match 2 of the five numbers drawn and win $1. The overall odds of winning a prize improved from 1 in 72 to only 1 in 10. It sounds like a major improvement. If you want to spend a dollar to win a a dollar, this is the game for you. I have decided to no longer play Pick Five, which was once called Fantasy 5. The top prize in Pick 5 is at least $50,000, but it rolls over if there is no jackpot winner. The odds of winning the jackpot WERE one in 324,632. By adding four more numbers, the odds of winning the top prize are now one in 575, 757. Imagine looking at 3 black plastic cups, turned upside down. Underneath one of those cups is a white ball with the word jackpot written on it. All you have to do is pay $1.00 to guess which black cup has the jackpot ball and you will win $50,000 or MORE. The odds are one in three of guessing correctly. I would play that game ! Now imagine standing in the middle of a very large field. On that field you see thousands of black cups turned upside down. Not only thousands, but 575,757. You pay only $1 to guess which black cup has the the white jackpot ball. If you find it, then $50,000+ is all yours. That doesn't sound like a game I want to play. Now think about standing somewhere in the middle of Death Valley looking a millions of the black cups. Underneath one is the white jackpot ball. If you pick the right black cup that has the jackpot ball, you will win millions of dollars. Each guess will cost you only $1. How many black cups do you have to choose from? If you playing The Pick, another Arizona Lottery game, you will be choosing your black cup from a total of 7,059,052 cups. You can also pay $1 to choose from 146,107,962 black cups. If you guess the correct cup with the jackpot ball, you winn the Powerball jackpot. On January 4, 2009, the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot went from bad to worse. The odds of winning it are now one in 195,249,054. I recently cashed in two winning Powerball tickets. All of the tickets I checked cost me about $75.00. I was the happy winner of $7.00. If you are going to play the lottery in Arizona, or in the state where you live, you'll likely have a better chance of winning playing the scratch ticket games. The scratchers usually have better odds of winning compared to online games.

Flickr is a GREAT place to keep your photos.

If you are looking for a place to find photos or to store your own photos, check out FLICKR.COM. It is a free site offered by Yahoo. You can also get an upgraded account by paying $24.95 for one year or $47.99 for two years. I am using the free account for now. Monte Mendoza 9 16 2007 Sunday 3:55 PM http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmundodemontemendoza/

Josh Groban Christmas CD "NOEL" October 9, 2007

Josh Groban released his first Christmas CD on October 9, 2007. The holiday CD is called "Noel". I bought my copy at Frys Electronics in Tempe, AZ on October 12, 2007 for $9.88, a sale that goes through Tuesday, October 16, 2007. There is more about this CD at my http://www.flickr.com/ account which can be seen by using the link below. By the way, after listening to this CD two times, I didn't really like it very much. Maybe it will grow on me like some of the songs from "Awake" did.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elmundodemontemendoza/

Monte Mendoza 9 9 2007 Sunday 4:20 PM (10/27/07 6:47 AM)

Tom Welling as Clark Kent on Smallville

The photos above are of Tom Welling as Clark Kent on the CW Network series "Smallville" which airs on Thursday nights. Exercise does the body good !

Monte Mendoza 11 12 2007 Monday 5:50 PM

"102 Minutes..."

In memory of those who passed away on September 11, 2001, I am reading a book called "102 Minutes The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers". The 323-page hardcover book from 2005 was written by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn. It is a sad reminder of the events that took place in Manhattan on that fateful September day, but I am glad that I am reading it. The sources for this book are 200 interviews with survivors and witnesses, thousands of pages of transcribed radio transmissions, phone messages, e-mails, and oral histories.

Monte Mendoza August 26, 2007 Sunday 10:00 AM.

"Smallville" Season Six on sale September 18, 2007

Season 6 of "Smallville" went on sale on Tuesday, September 18, 2007. The show debuted on the CW Network on Thursday, September 27, 2007. (Channel 6 or 61 here in the metro-Phoenix area.)

Monte Mendoza 9 30 2007 9:00 PM

I recently celebrated my 35th year without drinking alcohol. My life hasn't been perfect because of the decision to never drink alcohol that I made back in July of 1972, but I know that my life would have been a disaster if I allowed alcohol in my life. I have NEVER taken illegal drugs in my life. I thank God for the wisdom He gave me to make those decisions. July 21, 2007 Saturday 12:42 PM AZ

Recently Bought CDs

I recently bought some CDs, including Petra The Ultimate Collection. This double CD has 16 songs on disc one and 17 songs on disc two. The CD was released on March 21, 2006. Some of my favorites from disc one are: Why Should The Father Bother?, The Coloring Song, More Power To Ya, Not Of This World, Grave Robber and Hallow Eyes. Disc two favorites include: Thankful Heart, Love, Beyond Belief, Creed, Prayer, No Doubt and We Need Jesus. I am sure that once I listen to the CDs that there will be even more favorites.
I also bought the newest CD from Angelique Kidjo called "Djin Djin". It was released in early May of 2007 and the CD has 13 songs. I listened to about one minute of each song at the store , the FYE at Broadway and Rural in Tempe, Arizona. Lon Lon is song #13. It's a vocal version of Ravel's Bolero. It sounds really cool. Song #6 is Pearls with Josh Groban. There is also a cover of Gimme Shelter featuring Joss Stone. Angelique is from Benin, a country in West Africa.
I also bought a CD for 50 cents (no...not by 50 cents). It is the soundtrack to Wayne's World 2 with songs like...Frankenstein by Edgar Winter. Y.M.C.A. by The Village People. Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum. Those three songs alone are worth more than fifty cents. I didn't put the normal quotes around the song titles or use italics for the titles in order to save some time writing. June 10, 2007 Sunday at 6:05 PM AZ time.

747 book by Joe Sutter with Jay Spenser 2006

I recently began reading a book from the library called...
"747 Creating The World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures From A Life In Aviation".
It was cowritten (?) by Jay Spencer. It's available in hardcover for $26.95 or in softcover for $14.95. It is a history of how the Boeing 747 was designed and created. Joe Sutter led the team of engineers that created the 747. As a HUGE fan of 747's, I look forward to reading this book. I am only in chapter 1 right now. I have learned already that the 747 first flew on February 9, 1969. I have never flown in a 747, but I will if I can ever pay off my credit card debt. There are 272 pages in the hardcover edition that I am reading. It was published in 2006 by Smithsonian Books in association with HarperCollins Publishers.
ISBN is 978-0-06-088241-9.
June 3, 2007, Sunday. 3:20 PM
I finished this book recently. I thought it was a great insight into the history of the 747 program. Joe Sutter did an awesome job of telling the story of the Jumbo Jet.
7 21 2007 Sat. 11:33 AM AZ time

Hello To Some Old Friends and Coworkers

I just want to say hi to some former coworkers and friends.
Jake Riccobono aka Giacomo Riccobono I really enjoyed working with you. I tried to call you several months after I left Metro, but your number had already been disconnected. I hope to see you again someday !!!
Jon Overson (aka Jonathan Overson)...I hope your two-year mission went well. I didn't get to say bye when I left EDS in Tempe, AZ. I'm not sure if you still live here in Arizona or if you went back to Palmer, Alaska.
Mark Huffaker I hope you and your family are doing well.
Jason Chouinard, I hope you are still working at the same place as when I last worked with you in Phoenix, AZ. That looked like an excellent job with lots of future potential.
Paul Hansen of Arizona...I pray that things are going well in your life. I miss working with you at ABCO 424 (ABCO FOODS or ABCO Desert Markets).
Also, hello to Joe Buelna. I hope you are still alive and kickin' it. Thank you for your MANY years of devoted volunteer work. You are an excellent role model. ("What's up?" ..."I can tell you what isn't.")
Hi to Scott Sepulveda. You are also a role model to me for how to treat other human beings. I had a lot of fun working with you at ABCO 409. That company name sounds like a potent toilet bowl cleaner.
If any of you ever want to contact me, click on the link to see my complete profile at right. Then click on "My Web Page". You could then leave a message in the comments of one of the photos at my Flickr page. Have a great day/night everyone !!!
Monte May 31, 2007 Thursday 23:05

Updated May 31, 2021 Monday 12:50