Few people were at Costo during the Super Bowl, so the shopping cart storage was filled to capacity.

I started to go by Costo on my way home Friday evening, but decided against it for fear of large crowds stocking up for Super Bowl Sunday. I decided I would wait and go to Costo during the Super Bowl on Sunday instead, and as I had anticipated, Costo had few shoppers. I got everything on my shopping list, then I got through the checkout and was out of the store in record time.

Laurie made vanilla bean Gelato Stracciatella with slivered orange chocolate bars, fresh orange, and orange zest from her Come fare in case Gelati e Sorbetti cook book we got in Rome. With whipped cream as part of the makings, Sasha had a "Lick the Bowl" Sunday party, and started by licking the whipped cream off the whipper. I got Søren out and we listened to "Lola" by the Kinks so he could get a better sense of the tune — I taught him to sing "Lola" and he does a pretty fair job singing it. We partied, listened to a few more songs, drank coffee and tested the gelato as it turned in the ice cream freezer. After the gelato was done, and we had put it in single serving containers that we put in the freezer, Sasha wanted to lick the leftover gelato out of the ice cream freezer. I told her her tongue would stick to it, and then promptly grabbled a plastic spoon and rubber spatula, and used them to "lick" the remaining gelato out of the ice cream freezer — it was delightful (sorry Sasha).  In the end, Sasha seemed content licking the wire whip and any other bowls waiting to be washed.

Najar waiting for me to pour her a cup of coffee.

Sasha celebrating "Lick the Bowl" Sunday.

While Søren and Beaker are as much a part of our family as the kitties, they don't get as much blog time. Beaker, our 24 year old Gold Cap Conure, doesn't really like me photographing him. He gets defensive and then cowers when his defensive posturing doesn't make that pesky camera go away. Søren doesn't mind the camera, but he doesn't come out in the kitchen with us as much as Beaker. Søren likes to hang out in his room where he talks back and forth with us, sings, laughs and imitates the cats, appliances, and other noises, which keeps us and himself very entertained. Søren decided to come out with me yesterday, and hung out at the kitchen counter with us all afternoon. We shared an apple and orange, and Søren enjoyed corn chips (imitating the sound I make when I eat chips — kind of pesky), and puffed rice while Laurie put together ingredients for gelato, and I worked on the computer.  As far as Spunk, Sasha and Najar were concerned, Søren was a new, free-range bird who was fair game for hunting. Rosencrantz and Lola paid little attention to him, but we had to keep the troublesome trio at bay by spraying them with water from a spray bottle. Najar sat innocently on the edge of the counter giving Soren sideways glances (Najar is the black blob in the background in the photos of Soren), while Søren kept one eye on her while posing for the camera.

Søren

Beaker

Boomer the Flying Bull didn't touch down until he got Cody Jesus from Window Rock, AZ off his back. You can see an animated gif of this series of photos at https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/boomer-the-flying-bull/

Tools gathered for the job - floor jack, light, socket set, coffee cup with a classic Renault R5 on it, thermos, torque wrench and black cat.

I decided to get really adventurous and change the sparks plugs in my RX-8's Wankel rotary engine myself. Wankel engines burn oil as part of the lubrication process, so the spark plugs need to be changed every 25,000 to 30,000 miles. While changing spark plugs normally isn't a big deal in most piston engines, changing spark plugs in a Wankel is a major undertaking, so much so, that mechanics charge $300 to $400 to change spark plugs in a Mazda RX-8. The plugs are Laser Iridium, and even at discounted prices cost $20 each, so changing the plugs myself still cost me $100 for the plugs, anti-seize paste and taxes on the lot.

Since I haven't done any real work on a car in years, finding all the tools was like a scavenger hunt. I had to remove the left front wheel to get to the spark plugs on the engine, so the first thing I had to find was the floor jack, which after quite a bit of searching, I found buried under several seasons of cottonwood leaves. Then I had to get my cup of coffee with a photo of a classic Renault R5 I took in France, my thermos of coffee, gathered up the rest of the tools, and let Rosencrantz out so he could help me. With coffee on the floor jack and Rosencrantz for an assistant, I was ready to start my adventure with my Wankel.

There are two sets of plugs in a Wankel engine. Each set has a "Leading" plug and a 'Trailing" plug.

Leading plug on the left and Trailing plug on the right.

Rosencrantz gave his approval to remove the front tire and then moved on the see what he could find that was more interesting.

Wheel off and Rosencrantz making the rounds.

The spark plugs are in behind the mudflap behind the brake caliper.

Close up of the spark plugs in the engine. The Leading plug is on the bottom and the Trailing plug is the one on top with the cap removed.

i needed a longer extension on the ratchet to reach the plugs in the front rotor. 

The ratchet with the two extension and socket on the Trailing plug.

Carbon buildup on the first Trailing plug I removed that has between 25,000 and 30,000 miles on it, with the new plug next to it.

Rosnecrantz disappeared on me, and I found him taking a break to enjoy the clouds over the Sandias.

The view that distracted Rosencrantz.

I removed one plug, put a new matching plug back in, used a torque wrench to tighten to between 10 and 15 foot pounds, replaced the spark plug cap and then, moved on to the next plug. By changing the plugs one at a time, I couldn't get the spark plug wires crossed.

The first leading plug i removed with a lot of carbon build up on it compared to the new plug.

The two plugs in the back rotor proved to be much more difficult to get to and remove. There was not a straight shot through and opening in the wheel well, so I had to use the ratchet inside the engine compartment, working through the hole in the wheel well. I had little room to move or get leverage to loosen the plug, so it took all hand strength to get the plug loose, and a lot of micro turns to get it to a point i could finish unscrewing it with my hand. I had to use a knuckle wrench to get the bottom, Leading old plug out of the back rotor and the new one back in.

Fortunately I had the short torque wrench that fit into the available space in the engine compartment for tightening the new plugs in the back rotor.

After I got all the tools together, it took me two and a half hours to change the sparks plugs in my Wankel. After cleaning up the mess of tools and boxes, I started the car and took it for a test drive. It's running great, smooth and quick. The change in performance from fowled plugs is gradual, so I hadn't noticed the difference until I felt how much better the car performs with new plugs in it.

All four fowled plugs.

It's not only boxes, Spunk, Najar and Sasha love tot bags and laundry baskets as well.

More photos from the Super Nationals Car Show.

Dirt on the floor of the Santa Ana Star Center for the CBR.

I'm always surprised when people tell me they want to get out of Albuquerque because there is "nothing" to do here. I never really get from them what they define as "nothing" to do, but I find there are usually too many things I want to do, but because of conflicts in schedule, laziness or not wanting to spend the money, I don't do most of the things there are to do in Albuquerque on any given day. Saturday, January 30th was one of the days with lots of things to do — I went to the Super Nationals Car Show on Saturday afternoon, and then Saturday evening, I went to the Championship Bull Riding (CBR) "Bucking on the Rio Grande" presented by the Navajo Nation Parks & Recreation at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho (you can watch CBR on the Fox Sports Channel). There was also a swing dance Saturday night, but I couldn't turn down a media pass, and the opportunity to photograph the CBR.

Bull riding is a very American sport that is extremely exciting to watch, and quite brutal for the riders. It's one of those sports where every competitor bites the dust after a bone jarring ride on a ton of bull (the bulls generally weigh around 1,000 pounds, but the big ones can weigh over 2000 pounds). There were 29 competitors who competed in three elimination rounds with four riders competing in the third round to determine the winner.  Each rider earns a score up to 100 points for a perfect ride on a perfect bull, which means riders rarely, if ever, score 100 points on a ride. The rider has to stay on the bull for 8 seconds, and if the the riders free hand touches the bull at anytime for any reason the clock is stopped. Each round the bulls are more difficult to ride, and in the final round only one rider stayed on his bull for the full 8 seconds and won the competition.

The even started with pyrotechnics.

Then riders were introduced.

One of the Reigning Champions.

Corey Bailey from Paris, TN was the fourth competitor out of the chutes riding General Lee.

General Lee didn't take long to throw Mr. Bailey.

General Lee gives a final kick to the crowd before heading back stage.

Jeffrey Ramagos from Zachary, LA lasted only a couple of bucks on No Dry Country before hitting the ground.

No Dry Country was an especially ornery bull who refused to leave the arena.

The house cowboy finally roped No Dry Country, but that didn't impress NDC, he just ran around the Fox Sports Channel camera stand in the middle of the arena, and pulled down the camera man, and his equipment with the rope.

No Cry County was not giving in easily.

He put one of the bull handlers on the rails.

No Dry Country stopped in front of me and posed for a photo before he finally decide to run back stage.

Cody Strite from McIntosh, NM had a hard time with Hard Times.

Hard Times doing a happy dance after throwing Mr. Strite.

Jacob O'Mara from Baton Rouge, LA out of the chute in the final round on Yellowhair.

Mr. O'Mara dives to the ground after riding the full 8 seconds.

Mr. O'Mara throws his hat and raises his arms in celebration after staying on Yellowhair for 8 seconds. There was one more rider after him, but I think he knew he had won.

Jacob O'mara receiving his winning check and belt buckle for the press, before the official ceremony.

The 25th annual Super Nationals car show is January 29-31, 2016  at the Lujan Complex @ Expo NM in Albuquerque. There are a lot of crazy custom cars, just plain nicely restored cars, classic cars, concept cars, trucks, race cars, custom motorcycles and a few bicycles. The kids really like the HotWheels track between the buildings, and Henry Winkler is a featured guest selling his books, signing photos and taking photos with people.  Anyone in the Albuquerque area can go today between 10:00 am and 7:00 pm.

When I went out to check on the progress on the new wall for Patrician Design yesterday morning, the rebar was pulled out of the trench for the new footing and a construction worker was digging in the trench. I asked him if he had run into problems with the footings, and he said he was having to dig out under the floor because he had to jack up the building. I went back out at 3:00 pm and he was still working on it, and while I was talking to him, another guy pulled up with a few new tools to help them to jack up the building. Meanwhile, they shut down the alley behind the office to rebuild it. They were out with a backhoe breaking up the old asphalt and concrete at our back door bright and early.

Digging out the original foundation which is made of the large rocks along the inside of the rebar.

A wider view of the trench, rebar and rocks from the foundation.

Closer view of the floor they were preparing to jack up. You can see a large granite boulder leaning against the rebar he dug out from the original foundation.

Working on the alley behind the office. The parking garage in the background is where I had been taking photos of the construction of the Imperial Building over the past year.

The back (north side) of the Imperial Building taken from the roof of our office. 

The alley looking straight down from the roof of our office through a super wide-angel lens. The concrete step in the bottom center of the photo is the step up to the back door to the office. My desk is about 15 feet from where the guy closest to the step is standing.

Rosencrantz sez the black, leopard-like spots, flowers and roses are fine, but he's not sure about all that pink.

A pink and black outfit with a touch of yellow Laurie spread out on the table to see how it all looks together.

Rosencrantz sez he'll think about it.

No sooner than I got the new kettle out of the box than Sasha got in the box.

Venus and Medusa at Prime

One thing I really liked about old, manual focus lenses is that when you set the lenses on Infinity = ∞ you got ∞ = Infinity. That is not the case with modern, auto-focus lenses. Often when I set my auto-focus lenses to manual focus, and then turn the focusing ring until the indicator is on ∞, and point my camera at the stars, which are infinitely far from the focal plane on my camera, the infinity at ∞ I have manually set the focus to is not the same infinity as the stars, and the photos are slightly out of focus. If the photo matters (not all photos matter), then I will make sure that I get the right infinity, so the image is in focus, but general fly-by-night photos like these that I took at Prime, Vespers and Compline, I set the lenses to infinity and they focused somewhere either short of or beyond infinity.

Orion's belt and saucers at Vespers

Moon, clouds and contrails at Compline.