You might be wondering what the title of this article means. Well, you are going to have to keep reading to find out.

It’s the final week of the 2019 legislative session, and there are lots of bills that legislators are trying to get approved before the final gavel is dropped to end the legislative proceedings. Minimum wage, recreational marijuana, filming tax incentives for rural New Mexico… it’s amazing how many bills will be discussed in the closing hours. However, we want to give kudos to Representative Rebecca Dow and Senator Gabe Ramos for authoring a bill that will help the Cancer Treatment Center at Gila Regional Medical Center to the tune of $1.5 million dollars. Now we will watch for the Governor to sign the bill. Thank you, Rebecca and Gabe!

At our monthly Chamber of Commerce lunch meeting last week, we spoke briefly about our population and why people are looking at relocating to New Mexico. I mentioned that New Mexico is becoming a safe haven to move to as other state’s raise taxes and make it tough to live in. So, let me share with you this message we received today from a gentleman in Lakeside, California.

“Good Day: DAY CAN’T COME TOO SOON. California has turned into the wreck of the west. With all the fires and terrible management time to leave. And with retirement just around the corner we are looking at different locations to settle so as to get away from the hectic hustle and bustle of southern California and the evil Moonbeam Brown, reputed to be the governor. We are looking at all areas and would appreciate any information, brochures, etc. about your region. Maybe with A BIT OF LUCK WE WILL BE NEIGHBORS SOME DAY. Thank you.”

These types of requests are becoming more common from states to our west and from states in the northeast portion of our country. We aren’t certain how they made the decision to inquire about Silver City and Grant County… we’re simply happy to oblige their request. We are sending this fella 3 pounds of information about Grant County and our region. Who knows? Maybe we will become neighbors someday.

As I was driving into Silver City today on Highway 180 East, as I got to the traffic signal at Memory Lane… I began getting this feeling that something or someone was calling for me. I didn’t actually hear any noise. It was just a deep feeling that something was tugging me in a direction on the southside of the hilltop at that intersection. It’s hard to explain. As the traffic signal turned green and my truck began moving forward in a westerly direction… the urge became greater. Suddenly my truck merged into the center lane and abruptly turned left. There I sat… dazed from what had happened… in front of… the new Empire Buffet that has just opened. I felt guilty about sitting in the parking lot, so I went inside. The owner explained to me that there are over 100 different items to choose from. I didn’t count and I surely didn’t try to taste each one of the items, but there were a lot… and I tried small portions of quite a few. I also enjoyed the sweet tea that was served to me with my meal. Pretty good food at what I believe was a pretty fair price. It was good and I left satisfied. Before I left, I opened my fortune cookie. It was kind of an ominous fortune, mainly since I was at an all-you-can eat buffet. What did my fortune have written on the sheet? Well, it is the title of this article. Consume less. Share more. Enjoy life. Hmmm, I wonder if the owner is trying to say I ate too much.

I hope you have a great week. Call the Chamber of Commerce office at 575-538-3785 if you have any questions or need some information. And I hope you enjoy life.