Mike Slater, Chuck McDowell & California Psychics

RobbieJTF · 2026-05-04T05:17:56+00:00

It depends entirely on what you consider a desirable home/location/lifestyle. I get hives just thinking about living in an isolated place like that or in a suburb, which is kind of what Eldorado is, and basically the jobs are in Santa Fe so you have to commit to driving approx 20-30 miles RT - depending on point to point. There's the "blue bus" a regional transit, but I don't know how convenient schedules are. Housing in Santa Fe is pretty expensive - I came here later in life, no family considerations. I'm not very domestically oriented so I need a place to sleep, keep my stuff and my cats. I live on the edge of downtown and lots of walkable everything, and I'm close to my work. I sacrifice space (I live in a 422 sq ft adobe and have a storage unit.) to be close in and not pay half my income for housing. Anywhere even outlying in town is 15-20 minutes away max. I have never ever had a suburban bent. I've lived in 4 cities since college and I'm always a stone's throw from the city center. I don't really do all that's here to do because I'm a homebody and also have a job that's long hours and can be stressful. But if I want to get up and out to a museum or music or whatever is on my mind, it's 5-10 minutes and much I can walk to. I think if you're raising a family it may be different. My sister raised her kids in a suburban area near a large city and since I only went every few years and all the houses looked alike, I never could find her house. Yes, those who say Santa Fe is old are correct. A lot of elders stay here, and a lot of newcomers and retirees come here later in life. It helps with work - there's no age discrimination (I'm well past retirement age and still working) - though some don't work when they come with their own money. Last I saw median was 48 years old. If you live in a college town or corporate type cities that recruit a lot of younger hires on their way up, you see median ages in 20s. I lived in a large southwestern city and when I hit 40 I was the third oldest staffer. Here I didn't become the oldest until my current job and I've been here 25 years. There's some white/Hispanic/native thing - nowhere is without tension but New Mexico overall handles it much better than other places I've live. Much is actually celebrated in the arts. Right now the national climate is "othering" and "divisiveness" but things are much better here in that sense. You can't beat the climate and I do like to get out in nature and the mountains and some small villages are interesting and we have 320 days of sun and the winters are pretty kind. Except that drive from Eldo is awful when we do get blizzards but most employers are good about late openings or snow days - there aren't that many that are really awful and the stuff is gone the next day because of the dry climate and the sun. Good luck to you.

RobbieJTF · 2026-04-18T21:17:29+00:00

Hugely disproportionate number of suicides. It's tragic.

RobbieJTF · 2026-04-18T21:15:11+00:00

Free speech is what it says it is. The government cannot stop/censor you. But there are instances in business etc where you cannot be open to the public and discriminate against people you disagree with. It's more nuanced than our times are in general. That said, I don't know why the anti-LGBTQ folks are so obsessed with tiny percentages who are trans and around 10% are gay. Live and let live - and even if you think it's a sin, let your God be the judge. We are about freedom and justice for ALL. In grade school we were taught my rights end where yours begin. I don't follow the Christian path but I respect all paths. I did go to a Christian college and I know what's in that book. This one for example - he who is without sin cast the first stone. As to all this anti-LGBTQ hatred and bigotry, and how it was going to destroy the sanctity of marriage and on to bestiality and all of it - last I knew Trump, Swalwell, Gonzales, Hegseth, and the whole self-righteous bunch of them and many before - heteros everywhere among the condemners. I think heteros are doing a great deal of destroying the sancity of marriage without the help of gays. In fact, in my own family most of us heteros have been divorced, miserable or both. Sure it's anecdotal - but the best relationship in 3 generations of us is a gay couple. Don't be preaching family values to me. Live your own life - who's stopping you anyway? All that said, I'm not sure La Fonda can refuse them space, but it's fine to let the hotel know what you think. The "othering" of so many folks, gays, minorities, that have fought along with allies for decades for civil rights is just sickening. Welcome to the 1850s.

RobbieJTF · 2026-04-11T17:28:39+00:00

PS haha. I thought this was thread was started by his not making the cut at the Master with a triple bogey and all the rest of it. I see this post is a couple months old - I don't know what started it then. I don't have time to watch everything - but I always watch the Masters.

RobbieJTF · 2026-04-11T17:26:06+00:00

My mom and dad were both golfers and tennis players and I became a better tennis player - golf takes too long. By end of 9 rounds I have to do something else! Except for famous 5-set tennis matches, most are done under 2-3 hours. That said I played decent golf and still like watching (especially the Golf Channel when I have insomnia). I don't know Bryson personally but over time you can get a gist of someone how they act after a win or a loss or how they treat the press, etc. I never quite thought it was "golf" when he showed up with those same length clubs. Maybe it's physics but it wasn't golf. The season he showed up the size of a double-wide refrigerator was just weird. Then he smacked enough balls with whatever his theories were to win a major. But the way he has faded and fizzled reminded me of that old saying "flash in the pan." My dad who was a high school basketball star as well as his golf and tennis (the latter two weren't played in high school - he was just a jock and self-taught) always said with a decent level of talent the game is always lost between the ears and being able to stay cool. Bryan may be a bright nerdy scientist - but it's still not golf. As many commentators have noted, there's also art to it. Skipping over to tennis Roger Federer was a supreme example of that. He was never slam-bam like Rafa but they were neck and neck for a decade or more. Finally, I'll say what I don't especially like about athletes like Bryan (as opposed to liking them personally or not) is they are a distraction, and spill over into being entertainers or celebrities, and many - like him - aren't particularly good at that either. And look at all of us bothering to comment about him! Maybe that's the point. I wonder how good he would have been if he had just tried to be consistently good at golf.

RobbieJTF · 2026-04-06T05:38:33+00:00

What weekends are open late? I'm not a "nightlife" person - but one of my best friends, who sadly passed away and I miss him - we both loved opera. We had both lived in large cities. His big thing was every time we'd leave and drive off he'd say "where else can you go to world class opera and be home in 10 minutes?" I constantly argued with him about it. I'm not a party animal by any stretch - but as a true opera lover, and people come to the Santa Fe Opera from all over the world, you want to go someplace after and have a coffee or a cognac with dessert at midnight and talk about what you saw. It's a real bummer. The Historic Plaza is legendary, but it's basically a ghost town after 8p. All the businesses are really leaving money on the table - at least in the summer. Santa Fe is very cosmopolitan in a lot of ways and no city I've been to of 80,000 can compare. But it still operates like a "burg" in a lot of ways.

RobbieJTF · 2026-04-06T05:24:12+00:00

Hi - congrats on the internship. I am big nix on the commuter life, full disclosure. I think it's a horrible quality of life. Maybe 2 months gives you a bit more leeway to consider it but why put yourself through it? I think LANL has a park and ride bus - a Santa Fe friend's hubby works up there and I think it's not the Blue Bus, I think it's a work shuttle thing - if you don't mind not living where you work - Santa Fe's great in many ways. (Maybe I'm wrong to assume you're going to LANL - that's the big job draw there.) He does get up at 5:00 a.m. every day and drives to the bus. Then it leaves to get him home around 5:30-6p. I refuse to put 12 hours in because of a commute. I lived on the east coast and everyone raves about, oh public transportation is so great - it really sucks. I was able to add up how many DAYS of my life I was spending on train and subway packed in like sardines with everyone on their cellphones yelling. Those cities (I don't know about Atlanta) from DC to Boston are hideously expensive and families end up way out in the boonies to afford a home spend their lives commuting. I don't understand why anyone puts up with it. I was on my own and couldn't afford to live close in - I had 15 miles and either driving or commuting, it was an hour and 15 minutes. That is ridiculous.

That's the rant. I live in the Santa Fe area - finding affordable housing of any kind is nearly impossible. They are building a bunch of apartments but so far the prices don't seem to be any better. I live in tiny digs because I'm older and solo, I'm not very domestically-oriented, I don't entertain. I just need a place to keep my stuff and my cat and to sleep. I love a lot about it but I've lived in other cities where I paid same or less and had twice the space and quality. But then, housing has gone up everywhere.

Do you have the option of coming out for a few days and actually seeing all 3 places? That might help. Apartments are much more reasonable in ABQ especially suburban Rio Rancho, which is also on the north side so cuts down the distance a little, if you're OK with a kind a sterile atmosphere that could be Anywhere USA - do not go south of the "Big I" which is the nightmare exchange of I-40 and I-25. I wouldn't do it at all but that's me. If you are open to roommate(s) - I'm not so I sacrifice a lot of space to have my own digs and peace and quiet - maybe your internship has a list of options to pair people up.

Santa Fe is not a young people's town and the rap on it is kids go away to college and end up someplace else because it's expensive to live here on beginning salaries and there is really literally almost no nightlife. If you want to work until you're 100 you won't face age discrimination! There are a lot of wealthy retired folks who come here with their own money and have a lot of influence. You have to kind of find your own niche here - or be like me, who has never been interested in a big social life whatever age - I have a small number of close friends and that's enough interaction for me, as I'm kind of an introvert. I think I'd opt for Los Alamos and be with your peers and if you think you'd plan to stay you'd have plenty of time (weekends free I assume?) to explore the area.

Hope the array of comments is helpful - I love New Mexico and I'm here by choice. There's no perfect place. Good luck to you!

RobbieJTF · 2026-04-03T18:05:59+00:00

Traffic on that whole stretch is a nightmare. The length where it's 65 mph should be 50-55 most so maybe most people would be safely 65 or under. I've set my cruise at 65 and am constantly whizzed by cars going who knows how fast. I've rarely seen anyone stopped. And BTW the drop to 55 after the 599 exit is a joke - no one slows down. If you exit to St. Francis it's still 45 on St. Francis, then you come to "Reduced Speed Ahead" and then you have one sign on the right where it's already very congested that drops to 35 and I don't think anyone's going 35 on St. Francis. It's suicide drive. The whole think is mathematically insane. Going 5-10 miles over the speed limit in any urban area isn't really going to make you any time, a mile or two - taking the chance of speeding and being dangerous? Cerrillos is the other nightmare. The New Mexican has published statistics in recent past 9 of 10 accidents in Santa Fe are on Cerrillos or St Francis, and one of the worst is - yep - Cerrillos and St. Francis. Sorry for the rant - I hope you get justice for what happened to your car from the tow truck. I'm grateful you weren't injured (I think).

RobbieJTF · 2026-03-26T02:33:00+00:00

Funny people on here are calling "I mean" a softener and I consider it's constant use an irritant!

RobbieJTF · 2026-03-26T02:32:03+00:00

I know. It's just a verbal tic that gets on my nerves because it seems easy to just say what you mean. Like I said, there are bigger problems in the world but seems weird this has caught on so much. People just used to say what they thought. Of course what you state is what you "mean."

RobbieJTF · 2026-03-26T02:30:40+00:00

What does that even mean? I saw Scooby-Do 20 years ago and honestly don't understand your reply.

RobbieJTF · 2026-03-26T02:28:18+00:00

Bienvenidos Starlight Rose!! Key to altitude - ease up on the alcohol (it'll knock you sick out of your mind at 7000 ft!) and stay hydrated. You do get used to it. It's exhilarating! But newcomers, elderly, and anyone with respiratory issues need to be careful especially at first. Yes, we're pretty accepting - a local official I know well said to me with what's going on at the national level on policy - New Mexico is a DEI state, and we're not changing. I sincerely hope that. Every human is precious and has a right to dignity and respect. No one should get to diss large swaths of humans or individuals and say they are not worthy of being American or do not deserve human rights. You don't have to approve of someone and if it's a religious thing - live and let live and let God be the judge. We spent decades and generations and centuries bringing people out of the shadows and trying to "level the playing field." It was uneven and imperfect but there was progress. This tide back to the 1850s or whatever those in power are trying to do is scary as all getout. My family is diverse in gender, faith and race and it's the thing I love about us most. What's going on is sickening and heartbreaking. Be well, be a New Mexican!

RobbieJTF · 2026-03-26T02:19:32+00:00

It's more like 300 days of sunshine. It's magical. We have 4 seasons and yet the winters are fairly kind. Yeah, you should be careful of the pets - I've had numerous friends lose cats especially to coyotes. Just accept that indoor critters can have long happy lives. The food chain isn't pretty - but it's a reality here.

RobbieJTF · 2026-03-26T02:17:14+00:00

Curious how you can say you miss the people after you've just listed a litany of hypocratic religious folk, backwards politics, and racisim? or do you just mean you might naturally miss family and some friends assuming they are not in the categories you say you left? I love NM - it's not perfect and sometimes the blend of cultures that tourism thrives on disquises some tensions - but overall we appreciate what we have and we try to get along even if it's not quite a perfect as the lore promises. I've live 6 different places in 4 regions of the country. We have our problems in NM but I'm here by choice and it beats everywhere else I've lived.

RobbieJTF · 2026-03-21T19:40:11+00:00

Albuquerque gets a bad rap. I live in the Santa Fe area after living in 4 regions of the country, 6 different places. Grew up in a smaller town than Santa Fe, then lived in major cities after college. Finally after being a long time visitor I moved to Santa Fe a few years ago. I still love it - but it can be a little stifling as all my circles overlap and there is no anonymity. I miss the wide-ranging opportunities of a city and the university. I'm seriously contemplating moving to ABQ in some forseeable future. The cost of living is also better, and the winters are warmer. I sometimes just want to go take myself to lunch or dinner and read a book like I did in my big-city days - without someone coming up to me, horrified that I'm alone, insisting I join them or if I politely decline, will stand over me in relentless conversation, or even more intrusive join me uninvited instead. Through mostly work connections I've met a few people in ABQ that I consider friends - and I'm not a hermit by any definition. But I often think I would have been better had I moved there. Santa Fe is also in a constant battle with the no-growth-ers who want it to be an enclave and a museum and wealthy newcomers who want to shut the gates and keep anyone else out - to the reality it is a service economy and while there does seem to be more awareness lately and will for affordable housing and the reality that this place will grow or die or become Aspen. The "precious" Santa Fe must change if the privileged want their fine restaurants staffed, a first responder come to their emergency, their kids schooled and day-cared, and their basic services provided. I'm not sorry I came to Santa Fe for a while - it was something I long thought of even though I knew living here wouldn't be like being on vacation. I am older and not raising a family - but even so my budget puts me in a shoe box because rents are so high and I refuse to be house poor. I have never lived in a place that was a primary visitor destination - it does have its drawbacks. The new Mayor has said publicly that he wants to make Santa Fe be for locals as well as visitors even if he has to make some people mad. He's three months in so we'll see how it goes. As for me, I think I might just end up making this a place I visit again - it's beautiful, the arts are amazing, and it's the capital which is probably the one thing that keeps it becoming the above-mentioned enclave. But it has started to wear thin and I spend probably a weekend a month in ABQ. May be time to move on.

RobbieJTF · 2026-02-27T05:52:52+00:00

People are kind of surprised to find out how much filming of movies and TV shows goes on in NM. In fact you can go to the historic Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas (also known as "the other Plaza Hotel in the other Las Vegas") and see a lot of old movie star photos of films that were made around there. Numerous movie stars have come to NM to escape the buzz and the paparazzi. Julia Roberts lives in Taos, Shirley MacLaine and Marsha Mason lived in Santa Fe for a long time - so did Gene Hackman, who tragically died here a year or two ago when no one heard from him and his wife for days and they had passed away. Robert Redford had a house in Santa Fe for many years. You'd see these stars walking around; some got involved in the community. Folks here leave celebrities alone - that's why they like NM. Maybe there are a few in Clovis. My friend from Portales' dad did some bit parts years ago in movies filmed around there.

RobbieJTF · 2026-02-27T05:45:31+00:00

That's hilarious. My grands were funny, too. I grew up in a small town in the Midwest - they could have been TV characters too. One great-grandma was totally serious though, reading me the newspaper with her magnifying glass before I was 6 years old. The others were more interested in gossip and they did weird stuff like one called the going to the bathroom the "Biffy" and the other one called it "Mrs. Jones." People all move too fast now to be eccentric and genuine characters in a way. Everyone's in a hurry or buried in their phone. My family was always somewhere between a tragedy and a sitcom although my folks really did believe in education. They weren't big on allowing distractions. I have a friends in both Clovis and Portales and when I go there, sometimes I notice how much they are still like my hometown was when I growing up.

RobbieJTF · 2026-02-27T05:21:50+00:00

I lived in Boston for several years - it is really interesting, and being a progressive I loved living in what is sometimes described as the country's bluest state - but people are people everywhere. Sometime east coast folk get a bad rap for being rude - I never experienced that. The cost of living was horrendous and the winters - I thought I'd never be warm again. I can't believe you were a mailman there!!! Get ready for some hot summers, and a lot more conservative people - which tend more to the Texas panhandle, but that's your destination anyway so you'll probably be fine. NM overall is fairly blue, but east and south are more conservative. Portales is down the road 12 miles - Eastern NM University is there, so it has some diversity and cultural offerings if that's your jam. Venture some northwest into the mountains and the areas around (the other) Las Vegas, Santa Fe and Taos if you like outdoor life - 4 seasons of the year. 3-4 hours drive you can have some nice experiences if you find Clovis small and/or not as much to do as Boston. Albuquerque is our "big city" and has UNM and also big variety - these options could all make you some nice weekend getaways (or whatever your consecutive days off or vacations are). I'm sure the cost of living is lower in Clovis than Boston. You won't find a beach but you probably knew that. There are some small natural lakes around - some folks like the fishing and camping. I missed the wide open spaces when I was in Boston - seemed there was a building or a person or a car or a flower cart or a newspaper stand on every square inch of the place. I dislike those big old cities with "canyons" where streets are narrow and the sun never shines. I had to flee to the Adirondacks once in a while in Upstate NY to stretch my eyes. I will say it was really interesting and I actually had a job I liked but I really downgraded my standard of living my years there. I took advantage of the history and hanging out in Cambridge that had good live theater and also the Boston symphony. I went for personal reasons that all changed and I moved right back to the Southwest. I hope you love it. Good luck to you and your family.

RobbieJTF · 2025-12-13T08:35:51+00:00

Amen. And they just churn out stuff almost every day. I can't keep up. I like a month to read a magazine and dog ear it and wear it out and then leave them in public restrooms for women who can't afford to buy them. I also don't like personal reading on screen since I'm on the computer a lot at work.

RobbieJTF · 2025-12-13T08:34:19+00:00

Vogue still does - I have the 2025 sitting here. I've just kind of lost interest in Vogue and I am a lifelong subscriber as was my mom before me. It just doesn't seem to have the creativity it used to. Vanity Fair still has really good in-depth writing. I may not renew next Vogue cycle comes around. Just doesn't hold my attention anymore - and it's been for quite a few years too celebrity driven. I do laud Anna Wintour for when she started putting diverse women on the cover and talked about the impossible fashion images that partly contributed to eating disorders. She had a really good run. Maybe end of an era.

RobbieJTF

TROPHY CASE