I just read that a helicopter outfit at Williams Gateway field in Chandler is offering a new helicopter shuttle service to Sky Harbor. The price? $90 one way. Not so cheap, but considering the state of the 60 freeway around Power road these days, a 15 minute helicopter flight sounds much better than sitting in traffic for over an hour. Now if only Phoenix had been planned a little better at the beginning, one wouldn’t have that problem. Another interesting fact I read in the article is that the Greater Phoenix area is 496 square miles in size.

This is just a reminder that we have a public flickr group where everyone is welcome to join and add photos to the group. They show up in those thumbnails on the right and are archived in the group photo pool. Do you have some cool photos from around the Valley? We want to see ‘em!

I especially like videoal’s shots of South Mountain. I need to get up there for some views and smooching.

If you are going to the march we would like to know your thoughts and see your photos. Please share them in the comment section of this post. If you have photos posted to your Flickr or other site send us a link. This will no doubt be a complex day, let us have a complex discussion.

On the eve of the 10th, I want to start a conversation about immigration. I am the the grandson of an immigrant, just about everyone I know has come here from somewhere else or their family did. My grandfather immigrated to this country as part of a wave of contract laborers. They later became U.S. citizens when Hawai`i was annexed as the 50th state. They were very lucky and I am luckier.

I want others to have the opportunities that I have had and I support some sort of road map to citizenship for all who are here.

I do not support breaking the law. But I am less bothered by people going 10 miles per hour over the speed limit than I am of bigotry. Oh wait, bigotry is not illegal. The act of being here illegally I put on par with, oh I do not know, speeding? It does not bother me as much as rudeness, racism, and stupidity. Oh yeah, these are not illegal either.

There are a lot of people I would not welcome to my country. Those who seek to do harm or cruelty. Those who exploit or enslave. Those who are evil. But not the tired, or the poor, or anyone yearning to be free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.
(more…)

When we first moved to the valley I was worried. I talked to friends and colleagues about the real estate market, what neigborhoods to avoid, and what do they really pay for utilities. I learned about swamp coolers and $300.00 utility bills. So in an effort to control costs our first year here, we signed a lease for an apartment that included all utilities. This made it easy to budget as there would not be any surprises. Like the surprise we had when it started to drop into the twenties – heat we expected not cold.

But there was a catch, our apartment’s central air either blows heat all the time or A/C and the management company decides when to switch it over. Well, TODAY is the day we get the A/C back on.

Time to find something interesting for your kids to do over the summer, that is. According to the City of Tempe mailing list, the “Kid Zone Enrichment Program will begin accepting registrations from the public on April 10 for Summer Camp 2006.” And there’s always the Boys & Girls Clubs. Plus, there’s a whole slew of summer camps listed on About.com.

Got a chance to tour the construction of Loop 202 today. The freeway through the southeast valley should be completed in June and today we got a drive through. It is both smaller and larger than it seems. The rubberized asphalt goes in next, then a big party, then we can finally drive on it.

Sprouts Grocery at 32nd and Indian School. I just had the fattest turkey sandwich I’ve ever had. $2.99 gets you a fresh made sandwich of your choice. They have various meats, cheeses and breads to choose from with the usual dressings. Unfortunately they don’t offer pesto as a spread (just mayo & mustard), but I keep a jar handy in the fridge at work for just such an occasion. Add cheese for 50 cents if you so desire. Soup of the day was Italian Wedding and when I walked by the steaming pot I was ready for the honeymoon. $1.99 netted me a generous cupful of this heavenly goodness. But back to the sandwich, it’s literally so big that I ate only half of it. Skip the tiny 99 cent chip bags @ the deli and grab a full size bag of Boulder kettle chips for $1.69. Two more days to go, hope you’re enjoying my lunchtime culinary adventures.

I thought they were screwing around with the new guy (me). Scaring me with stories of people dying from “valley fever” a desert fungus that grows in your lungs and spreads to your brain, skin, and bones. Then I read the front page headline on today’s East Valley Tribune. Holy Crap! I thought it was just killer heat. Now I have to worry about killer fungus. Next, they tell me stories of folks who have died after passing out on the sidewalk and getting cooked by the heat.

Spring 2006 Kickball League, Papago Park, Thursday nights. Starts April 20th. Join it! Visit http://www.kickball.com for more information. The league is AZ Fire (Tempe). There are a bunch of teams with spots available or get some friends and create a group so you can all play together. Take out some aggression on a red rubber ball! Make some new friends! Be a big kid again! Do you even need a reason? It’s KICKBALL!