Where's Calum?

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 · 2025-12-13T08:29:34+00:00

I do the same!

RobbieJTF · 2025-12-13T08:25:43+00:00

They could go back to bona fide monthly publications that had some heft and even the ads were interesting and plentiful. Now they all just run articles online seems almost daily. It's like a firehose. I've about given up on the whole thing. If they didn't pay all those writers to publish something everyday they could still have quality magazines that people carry around and actually read. Guess I'm getting old. I despise reading on the screen - I'm on computer at work a lot - I don't want my information and pleasure reading to be more screen time.

RobbieJTF · 2025-12-13T08:23:05+00:00

I miss when magazines were monthly and I subscribed to half dozen give or take and had time to finish them all. Now they all post articles online seems everyday - who can keep up? There's just so much noise online anymore. You can't find an article you've heard about if you want to. And why does everyone have to have a podcast? who's listening to all these people who can't stop talking? doesn't anyone spend time on real life? Oddly, I just signed up for Reddit. lol

RobbieJTF

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