Pros & Cons of living in Santa Fe ??? (Albuquerque: unemployment rate, movies)

[Dancingearth]

Towanda - most of the time I like my house in Santa Fe although at times I wish I would have just rented because of the time and money I spend on fixing it up when I'd like to be making pottery and had money to travel. Although I miss the views in Eldorado, I don't miss the driving everyday to work and here I know more of my neighbors which is nice since I live alone.

Yesterday my friends and I drove to friends who live in Bosque Farms which made me want to move to the country again but not until I can work from home. It was a great place for a ceramic artist. I got a kick out of all the farm animals in people's yards. It turns out that if you have one cow you qualify for the farm tax. There are other animals that will qualify you but unfortunately, not horses so the people we visited have to get another animal so they qualify. We saw a peep show while we were there (see pics.)

Lovehound - one of the benefits to the pods is that you put your lock on them and no one else can open them but I also moved my son's and my muzzleloaders/guns in my car. I'd have a lot less stuff if all I liked to do was watch TV! When you have many interests and like to read, you collect stuff. I swear though that there are things that won't move again--my goal while I live here is that I either use the stuff or get rid of it. I donated my hippie fabric to a teacher who is makng peace flags with his students. One box gone.

[Lovehound]

Thanks DE. I'm not sure why somebody would want to qualify for a farm tax, so it must mean a farm tax benefit?

Your posts about muzzleloaders remind me of my old GF... oh, nevermind.

Yeah, I've got tons of hobby stuff. If you don't count cooking as a hobby, I could probably cut my movable stuff to less than 10% of what I have. It's the stained glass, the leather working, the electronics hobby (including making home made circuit boards), it's the art materials, it's the do it yourself home improvement, it's the home made soap, it's the camping gear, it's the audio and video archives, and the computer stuff. It's all that and more. If it wasn't for hobbies I could move on a dime.

I'll look into the pods. I hope they aren't an alien plot.

[acs.1979]

Originally Posted by nhRN

Have you thought of Salt Lake City or that area? It is beautiful, mountainous, has 4 distinct seasons but spring really comes in March and winter doesn't seem to arrive until early December. My daughter & her family live there and I am thinking of moving there (still exploring my options)...primarily because I want to be near my grand kids, but also because where I live the winters seem exceptionally long and the days too short. Just a thought!

Thanks for the suggestion. SLC has crossed my mind before, but I think Utah might be way too conservative for me to adapt well. Now, don't get me wrong... most of my views don't quite fit typical right OR left standards, but I mean, Utah had theaters refusing to play Brokeback Mountain when it came out...a tame peice by any standards.

[acs.1979]

Originally Posted by Dancingearth

I visited Portland a few times when I lived in Olympia, WA. I remember fabulous restaurants and Powells. I miss Asian food--haven't found anywhere good here although tonight a woman from Korea gave me a tip on a restaurant that has clean woks. I get tired of eating New Mexican food even though I like it. I wish there were more choices. Things close up pretty early--most of the time I don't mind but last Sunday a friend and I were looking for a burrito and all my favorites close at 2 pm (or not open at all on Sunday.)

I don't miss the rain in WA during the winter--much prefer the cold and SUN. I do miss the water (the sound, ocean.) I like the proximity of hiking here. Tomorrow I'll drive 15 minutes to BLM land and will hike up the mesa and see petroglyphs and beautiful views. My favorite thing about New Mexico is the geography and history. I love the sense of space here--skies--mountains--plains.

Olympia! I want to take a mini-trip there, it seems like a really nice little city...never been though. Yeah, the oceans, rivers, mountains, and rain forests here in the Northwest are a huge draw, and will be really hard to part with should I decide to move someday. Have you adapted well from hiking the Northwest to hiking the Southwest? Is it a comparable experience?

On a side note, how is the vegetarian cuisine over there? Is it few and far in between, or fairly abundent? Thanks!

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by acs.1979

Thanks for the suggestion. SLC has crossed my mind before, but I think Utah might be way too conservative for me to adapt well. Now, don't get me wrong... most of my views don't quite fit typical right OR left standards, but I mean, Utah had theaters refusing to play Brokeback Mountain when it came out...a tame peice by any standards.

They wouldn't play it in Midland, TX, either....not that I cared, as I would not have gone to see it if it had been free.

Yech!!!

[Towanda]

Me neither, Cathy, I would not have considered it "tame".

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by acs.1979

On a side note, how is the vegetarian cuisine over there? Is it few and far in between, or fairly abundent?

I am not a vegetarian, nor do I want to be ...

But my daughter and her family are, and when they were here at Christmas, she did not have a problem finding vegetarian entrees at any of the places we ate. (She especially loved the choices at Harry's Roadhouse.)

However, I cannot speak to the specifically vegetarian restaurants in Santa Fe, but it seems to me that there are plenty of them.

[acs.1979]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Me neither, Cathy, I would not have considered it "tame".

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

They wouldn't play it in Midland, TX, either....not that I cared, as I would not have gone to see it if it had been free.

Yech!!!

Not tame? Please...it was a love story, not a teen slasher flick. Just because you don't understand or approve of love between two individuals of the same sex, it does not change the fact that it was a love story with little to no sex, drugs, viloence or foul language. There are dozens, if not hundreds of movies with far more violence, nudity, and foul language that the same theaters had no trouble playing. If you are going to pretend to be on some kind of moral high horse, at the very least you have to be consistent.

That said, I didn't care for the movie either...not because of the content ...just because drama/romance bores me.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by acs.1979

Not tame? Please...it was a love story, not a teen slasher flick. Just because you don't understand or approve of love between two individuals of the same sex, it does not change the fact that it was a love story with little to no sex, drugs, viloence or foul language. There are dozens, if not hundreds of movies with far more violence, nudity, and foul language that the same theaters had no trouble playing. If you are going to pretend to be on some kind of moral high horse, at the very least you have to be consistent.

That said, I didn't care for the movie either...not because of the content ...just because drama/romance bores me.

Well, how are we not consistent?

I think you will find NM relatively liberal compared to either TX or UT.

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by acs.1979

There are dozens, if not hundreds of movies with far more violence, nudity, and foul language that the same theaters had no trouble playing. If you are going to pretend to be on some kind of moral high horse, at the very least you have to be consistent.

Well, since I have been accused of speaking from some moral high horse (you don't even KNOW ME!!!!!) I will say that I do not go to/rent/watch on TV any movies with violence, nudity and foul language either. (Those are the three main reasons I quit watching movies years ago. I think I am VERY consistent on that.)

Please do not come to this forum and judge me. My opinions are every bit as valid as yours.