Heritage Days in Carlsbad

First, the Class of 70 - of which I am a proud member, is having their 35th Class Reunion this weekend. Also invited are the Classes of 69 and 71. Registration will be 7 p.m., Friday night at Riverside Country Club, a casual dress mixer, no host bar. Everyone is welcome. The cost for all events will be $75 per couple and $40 for us singles, that includes dinner on Saturday. Contact Terry Cappell for more information - cappell@mywdo.com.

Also on Friday night there will be a Chautauqua presentation on the library lawn, a poetry slam presented by the CHS poets and writers. Admission is free, guests are asked to bring their own lawn chairs. This will begin the Heritage Days Festivities.

The Heritage Days Celebration will continue Saturday at the Flume Park. There will be an Historic Photo display from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. courtesy of our esteemed local historian Jed Howard. Entertainment will begin at 11:30 AM and a barbecue dinner ($10) will be served at 12 noon. At 12:45 p.m. there will be a presentation honoring the Magby and Means families. The Chatauqua will continue Saturday evening at 7 p.m. when oral histories of the Magby and Means families will be presented under the tent on the library lawn. Admission is fee.

The Carlsbad Area Art Association's annual Images art show will start Saturday and continue through October 29th at the Carlsbad Museum and Art Center. All local artists are welcome to participate. Entry forms are available at the Artists Gallery, 120 S. Canyon. Entries will be accepted 10 a.m. til noon on Saturday with a reception 7 - 9 p.m at the Museum. First prize in each category, photography and painting, will be $100. All awards will be presented at the reception.

If you haven't already checked out the Zia Quilt Show this is your last chance. There are some fantastic quilts and this show is definately worth your time. Stop by. They will be taking down the quilts Friday evening to prepare for the Images show on Saturday.

As you can see, there will be plenty to do in Carlsbad this weekend. This is an invitation to all who say there is nothing to do in our fair city. Come on, get off the couch and out of your house, and join us.

Hang up and drive!

I had my students write about pet peeves today. Most were not familiar with the term, so we talked about examples of pet peeves. A couple of examples I gave them were drivers who were so absorbed in their phone conversations they sat through traffic lights, and drivers who insisted in sharing their music with me from two blocks away. I have other pet peeves, but the driving thing really brings out the worst in some people. There is something about being alone in a car that gives some people the idea that they are invisible. How many times have you seen people doing these things: singing like they were in the shower, picking their nose, applying makeup, cell phone abuse, and my personal favorite - turn completely around and smack a child in the backseat? Hey out there - you are not invisible when you are in your car. Hang up and drive! And no, thank you, I do not wish to share your latest gangsta cd.

Friday Night Lights

Carlsbad Caveman Football. No, it is not the end of the world. Hell, it ain't even Odessa. The Cavemen are having a losing season, again. And the talk of the town is in the "hang the coach" vein. I wouldn't be surprised if he found a few real estate signs in his front lawn a la Friday Night Lights. I am not of the "hang the coach" faction. Football is complex, and the reasons for winning or losing are complex. We need to support the team and quit knocking the coach. There will be plenty of time for that when the season is over. While we are in the midst of football season, I think we should shut up and cheer the boys on. Jumping on the "hang the coach" bandwagon during the season is counter productive, and hurts the boys worse than it hurts the coach. So lets get out there and support the boys! You can't change horses in midstream, and maybe football is just football.

Chile Rellenos - Gringa Style

It chile season in New Mexico. That means it's time to drive to the closest chile farm where they roast chiles right there on the property. I try to stock up for the year. Thirty pounds roasted and brought home in a big black trash bag will at least last through the holidays. The smell of roasting chile makes my mouth water. I drive to Artesia to get mine. It's a thirty mile drive, and I enjoy the aroma all the way home wafting in from the trunk of my car. Then I bag them in gallon zip lock bags and put them in the freezer. Don't worry about peeling them, it's easier if you do the peeling when they are half frozen or half thawed, whichever. Be sure to only fill the bags about one third full, and lay them flat. Then you can easily thaw and use them for everything from green chile cheese burgers to green chile chicken enchiladas. MMMmmmmmmmm!!!!! I love fall.
This is one of my favorite receipes, give it a try.

Chile Rellenos Gringa Style
One pound ground round
grated Monterrey Jack and Colby Cheese
Fresh roasted green chile - Big Jims are my favorite
one package egg roll skins
veggie oil

Cook the meat, season, drain and cool, heat the oil, take egg roll skins, place one strip of green chile on an egg roll skin, top with ground meat and grated cheese add another strip of green chile, tuck in the ends and roll like a burrito (or an egg roll- duh!) fry til golden brown.

No muss, no fuss, no drippy batter and they are wonderful. IF I do say so myself.

Update on Loan Sharks

Last night I paid off a small loan for an elderly lady and closed her account at a local small lender. I asked for a print out of all of this lady's transactions, but was told it was against company policy to give out printed copies. The manager did take the time to go through the account verbally and let me write down the information. She opened her account in March of 2002 and I closed it yesterday September 2005, a period of 43 months. In that period of time, she refinanced her loan 11 times. As far as I can figure from the limited information they would give me, she "borrowed" $1103.00 and paid them $2511.00. It is unclear how much of the $1100 was borrowed to pay on the note. These people loaned $200 to a 76 year old senior citizen living exclusively on Social Security. It was supposed to be paid back in 4 months and supposed to cost her $288.00.



The following article was originally posted in July 2005:

Carlsbad Loan Sharks
Check out the NM Attorney General's web page http://www.ago.state.nm.us/divs/cons/loans/cons_loans.htmShe is warning all NM citizens about the predetory lenders in NM. This is a list of the ones in Carlsbad:

Sun Loan Co., a corporation from San Antonio TX; Liberty Finance, a corporation w/ a Carlsbad mailing address; National Mortgage Co., a corporation w/ a Carlsbad mailing address; Security Finance, a sole proprietorship owned by A.R. Briggs Carlsbad address; 1st USA Title Loans, owner - Anthony Williams Carlsbad address; Hometown Mortgage Service, owners - Rene & Cecilia Salcedo Carlsbad address; Zia Finance, a division of Security Finance - see above; World Finance, a corporation w/ a Carlsbad mailing address; Check n Go of NM, a corporation from Madison Ohio; Fast Bucks of Carlsbad, NM LLC, a corporation - lists Charles Horton, owner; Home Pro Mortgage, a sole proprietorship owner not listed manager- Oscar Caballero; Grumpys Loan Center, corporation w/ Carlsbad address; Associates Financial, no owner listed / primary contact - Mike Sandate; Your Credit, Inc, a corporation w/ Carlsbad address pc - Royal Management; Easy Money of NM, Inc., a corporation w/ a Virginia address pc - David Greenberg; Pecos Valley Mortgage, a sole proprietorship -owner, Tommy Martinez.

This is a list of most of the current loan sharks. At least if they are owned by someone from Carlsbad, the money stays in the Carlsbad economy. The ones that are owned by out of state corporations bleed the money from our economy. Carlsbad cannot afford these businesses.The AG has commercials warning you against these places. If you skip a payment at a payday loan place and don't make it up, all of the rest of your payments just go to interest. You will still owe the same amount in a year. The title loan places can take your car if you miss a payment.Think - Some of these loans cost more than 750% annual interest. No one can afford to borrow from them. Don't do it. The majority of their clients are on Social Security or minimum wage. They are taking advantage of desperate people who can least afford it.

Family Musings

This is a picture of my father, his two brothers, and his sister taken about 1920. The tallest boy is my uncle Thurston, the boy in knickers is my father. The little girl is Ernestine and the baby is Buddy. Ernestine is the only one still living, a retired Army nurse now living in Wichita Falls.
My grandmother and grandfather Brandon called each other Mr. and Mrs. Brandon. “Mr. Brandon, will you bring in some wood for the stove?” “Yes ma’am, Mrs. Brandon.” I barely remember my grandmother, and my grandfather died the year I was born, in 1952. But I remember all of the stories.
I remember visiting the farm in the summers. I remember the creaking windmill and the cistern by the back door. I remember the many cats. I remember the hand-pump at the kitchen sink, a modern convenience. They had electricity in the 1950s, because there were electric lights and an ice box with a motor on top. It contained Dr. Pepper, 10, 2, and 4, a special treat for me.
The facilities were out back, past the chicken coop, and the chickens and rooster had the run of the yard. That meant to visit the facilities I had to go out the kitchen door and cross the yard. For some reason, the rooster hated me, or at least I thought he did. If I attempted to visit the facilities by myself, the rooster would attach himself to my back and peck me on the head. I still do not like chickens, except to eat. After the first couple of times, I convinced the adults I had to be escorted to the facilities.
My father was born in 1913, and he was 6 when the 19th Amendment passed. In November of 1920, my grandfather took the family wagon into the town of Quanah, Texas to go vote for the Democratic candidate. He left my grandmother standing in the yard. My grandmother walked to town and she voted and then she walked the four miles back to the farm. My father says they ate cold beans for the next week, but no one ever said a word about the incident. They were not the type to have cross words.
My grandmother considered playing cards sinful. When my father in the late 1950’s bought his mother her first television, she turned it toward the wall and refused to watch it. However, I remember on our next visit several months later, she had repositioned the devise. Although it was never turned on during our visit, I got the impression she had relented.
Family memories and family history need to be written and saved. There are so many things now that I wish I had asked before it was too late.

Attorney General Patricia Madrid - Shark Hunter and Hero

N.M. Attorney General Patricia Madrid is a hero. She has taken on the powerful to help the unfortunate. Madrid has made giant steps in the right direction to end predatory lending. Payday and car title lenders can be found on almost every corner in most cities in N.M. Old gas stations and Taco Bells are turned into easy lender outlets. They are usually prominently placed, extremely visible (ugly), with large garish signs and “friendly” names like Crazy Sam’s or Fast Bucks. These “businesses” prey on the elderly and the poor, lending money to people they know cannot repay in a timely manner. With Madrid’s action, these loan sharks may be an endangered species.


On Wednesday, A.G. Madrid issued Proposed Rules and Regulations Governing the Extension of Credit for Small Loans. These regulations will cap the small loan interest rate at an annual rate of 54%, the same rate to which pawn brokers are held. Since the first of this year she has issued public service announcements warning people about the predatory loan sharks lurking on every corner. I suspect that during that time she has been researching how to use the power of her office to put a collar on the small loan business. It looks like she has found what she needed in the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act at NMSA 1978 Section 57-12-13 (1967).

This is a benefit to all N.M. citizens, not just to those being victimized by taking loans. Many of these businesses are owned by out of state corporations and the money they take in is drained from our state’s economy. Since this is a direct service and the employees do not make much more than minimum wage, there is no positive benefit to the communities where they are located. Even the ones that are locally owned hurt the economy because they reduce consumer spending power. Patricia Madrid should be given the full support of the citizens of N.M. and be commended for her efforts.

Cleaning Closets, Old Letters, Meeting your Parents

Mom passed away in 1996. Dad lived by himself until he just couldn't take care of himself anymore, and in 2002 I moved into his house to take care of him. He passed away that June and I still miss him like the devil. I didn't start cleaning right away, procrastination is my middle name. This summer I did a lot of cleaning, and a lot of shredding too. My dad had kept every bank statement since they moved to Carlsbad in 1947, and some from Roswell and Lubbock. Fourteen boxes full of nothing but bank statements, all with rubber bands and little adding machine tapes paperclipped to them. One four drawer filing cabinet was filled with memories of his life, his honorable discharge from the Seabees at the end of the war, a file with bad investments including a uranium mine, and an entire drawer of newpaper clippings he thought interesting. He had maps, menus and lunch counter placemats from trips that were before my time. There were brochures, museum tickets, and receipts for everything he ever bought.

Dad and Mom were married in Lubbock in 1937. Mom kept letters in boxes. There were letters from Dad to her before they were married, and letters when he was working out of town right after they married. One box contained WWII era V-mail, and almost used up ration stamp books. She kept letters from her "lying in." I found the hospital bill from when I was born. ($204.00 and she was in the hospital for 33 days) That was in my Dad's stuff, not Mom's. All of his stuff was organized in filing cabinets. I learned a lot about my parents. He was romantic and sweet. She was proper and a little sneaky. I found three Roswell bank statements with one check for each month. She put a mink on layaway, bought it, and closed the account. I'm sure my Dad had no idea. Finding all of this was like meeting people I had never known. I'm glad I waited, I might have tossed things away if I had started too soon. I kept some things, shredded a bunch, cried a little, and laughed some too. All and all, I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.

Should New Orleans Be Rebuilt?

I know lots of people are going to disagree with this, but I do not see why we should rebuild New Orleans. Maybe part of New Orleans, but not the areas that were below sea level and poverty sticken, these areas received the hardest hit. The physical geography of New Orleans is not naturally inhabitable. Over 70% of New Orleans is built over drained cypress swamps, the pumping stations were not there because of the floods; they were there for everyday life. If FEMA rebuilds, they need to rebuild where flooding is not going to happen again. This is not a slam at the poor of New Orleans, I think the same thing when I see the mud slides in California or huricanne victims on beachfront property and people say they are going to rebuild. Why? Our tax dollars need to be spent wisely - not building houses for people over and over and know they could eventually be washed away again. New Orleans sits over a swamp. There are no jobs, and 27 % live below the poverty level. 87% of the people who lost homes were living below the poverty level. 44 of the schools in New Orleans did not meet basic proficiency last year. If New Orleans had these kinds of problems before the flood, what will happen now? I am not talking about leaving people homeless, I think the government should and must do something to help every person who has lost their home, but I don't think a responsible government would put people back in the same place from where they were washed away. Maybe this would be a opportunity to relocate people to a place they can find work and be productive. Maybe they will not all want to go back to New Orleans. I just do not see how anyone can say it will make sense to rebuild in that location. Draining cypress swamps and building housing was not a good idea when it was first done. It is not a good idea now.

I wish I lived in Texas

If I lived 35 miles to the south I would be a registered voter in Texas. If I was a registered voter in Texas, I would skip the primary, sign the petition, and vote for Kinky Friedman, Texas independent candidate for Governor in Texas. His motto is either "Why the Hell Not?" or "How Hard Can it Be?". If he is elected he will be the first independant elected since Sam Houston. Check out his web site at www.kinkyfriedman.com and I think you will like what you read. We need honest politicians. Vote for Kinky if you can.

Reality Check in Hell

A few weeks ago I wrote in my personal journal (where I usually try to contain my pity parties) that I was living in Hell. I had quipped questioning why no one noticed they were calling long distance. Now I am watching Hell live on CNN and am ashamed of my self centeredness. Yes, we all have problems in our everyday lives, but what I am watching on CNN is unbelieveable. I read several articles from the newspaper to my history class, and actually had a moment where my voice broke, and I had tears in my eyes. It was an account of a 57 year old woman who had to leave her 94 year old mother to drown because she could not get her into the attic. Her mother's last words were, "I give up." Today on CNN a tough looking older sheriff broke down during an interview because his coworker's mother had called on Tuesday from the nursing home she was in and asked if they were going to be rescued, and her son told her yes. She called on Wednesday and was told again yes someone is coming, and on Thursday she was told yes they are almost there. On Friday she and the others in the nursing home drowned. This scene must have been multiplied by the hundreds. That is truely Hell and it is unbelieveable that it happened in America.

An Opportunity to Discuss Survival

The disaster on the Gulf Coast left by Hurricane Katrina is a good opportunity for you to discuss the American spirit with your teenagers. We must all do whatever we can to help those who are in desperate need. This could be the largest disaster in American history. Some people will never be able to return to their homes. Other families will be out of their homes for months, if not years. The entire city of New Orleans will have to be rebuilt, schools, hospitals, and all public services. But that is what we do in America; we rebuild and go on. We do not give up; we do not quit. We help those who need help. Use this opportunity to show young people the whole picture, the good, the bad and the ugly. Good people are trying to help others. The conditions are bad – even terrible, and the ugly side of any disaster is shown when people are looting or price gouging. This can show teens that breaking up with their boyfriend or girlfriend is not the end of the world. Making an F in English is not the worst thing that can happen to them. People can lose everything, absolutely everything, and pick up and go on. Most will go on, rebuild, and make things better than they were before. That is the American way.