Las Cruces

By Bob


I am out of town this week on a business trip to Las Cruces, New Mexico. That's Spanish for "the Cruces." It really stinks because we just moved into our house over the weekend and there is a ton of stuff for us to do to get settled in, but I can't do much of anything from 250 miles away. I guess I'll just have to read some nerdy finance books and blog a ton while Emily is in nesting mode. I'll keep you updated if I do anything exciting (don't count on it).

We are library nerds!

I don't know if we have mentioned this before, but our new house is really close to a city library...Google Maps says that it is a distance of 0.2 miles from our house and we are really stoked to have it so close.

A week ago Saturday Bobily made a trek to the Lomas Tramway Library (pictured above) to "check it out." We both needed to renew our cards. Having attended school the last few years and having access to theUNM libraries we haven't really needed access to the city libraries. I think the cards look pretty spiffy too.

We have access to the internet for free during operating hours and we have access to tons of free books.
In addition to being a library nerd I (Bob) am also a finance nerd. Here are my finds from the library last week:

"The Intelligent Investor" by Benjamin Graham

• Warren Buffett (the second richest man in the world behind Bill Gates) considers the book, "By far the best book on investing ever written."
• Some people think of Donald Trump as one of the richest men out there--he's worth $2.9 Billion while Warren Buffett is worth $52 Billion.

"Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki

• I'm reading this to see what the hype is all about. I'll let you know.

"The Random Walk Guide to Investing: Ten Rules for Financial Success," by Burton Malkiel

• Malkiel wrote a book called, "A Random Walk Down Walstreet" that I really enjoyed. We'll see if he just repeats himself or if he's added to his material.

Emily has one book checked out..."The Princess Bride" by William Goldman.

We'll let you know what we think...

Deviny Has a Friend

Here's Deviny playing with Dillon, a dog we watch when we are at the "resort."
I hope you like the background music.

If they keep this up much longer we might need a new camera.

So, I (Emily) haven't blogged in a while and I apologize because you have been getting random facts from Bob instead of Bobily facts. The latest thing that we are really excited about is that we found a dog. Or rather, she found us. I was at work about a week and a half ago and the cutest little puppy wondered in. She didn't have a tag/collar on her and I was absolutely in love with her. Bob and I were planning on adopting a dog from the pound as soon as we moved into our home. Being a responsible person, I took her into the pound to make sure that no one was looking for her and that she didn't have a microchip in her. The pound said that I had to search for her owners (check the newspaper, fliers, websites) and that if no one claimed her in two weeks she was mine. I was also on the local news that night because there was a guy from one of the stations that got me one camera while this was all going on. I went home to pick up Bob and then we went to Petsmart to buy food, a collar, dishes, toys and of course a pooper scooper. This Saturday will be two weeks and she will be officially ours. The vet said she is about 3 months old and is some kind of Pit bull mix. She weighed in at 17lbs and she will get about twice that when she is full grown. I will let her tell you the rest....Hello! My name is Deviny (also known as Devin or Devi).I love to eat...



And play.....
And sleep. I have huge paws which means I am going to be a big girl someday...
But right now I am still small and the stairs kind-of scare me.

I also am very spiritual and love to feast upon the word of the Lord.

As you can see we have the most beautiful dog in the whole world. We are still working on potty training but she is picking up on it quickly. We also have to hide her from the apartment management because we are not suppose to have dogs. It is a good thing that we are closing on our house next week (the 22nd of July) because I can tell Deviny is really wanting a big backyard.

Winnie and Walter

Check this out if you are a fan of Alliteration or if you like silly stories. It's a story called Winnie and Walter.

Famous New Mexicans

Just in case you can't tell, I LOVE random facts. I came across some information the other day about well-known New Mexicans and I thought I'd share. Here's the top four on the list:


John Denver, singer/songwriter

• "Leaving on a Jet Plane"
• "Take Me Home, Country Roads"
• "Rocky Mountain High"
• Lost two toes in a accident with a lawn mower.

Niel Patrick Harris, actor

• "How I Met Your Mother"
• "Starship Troopers"
• "Doogie Howser, M.D." (He IS Doogie)
• His parents own a restaurant called Perreniel's in Albuquerque.

Conrad Hilton

• Founder of the Hilton Hotel Chain
  
• 2nd Husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor (She's had 9...so far)
• Yes, it's Paris Hilton's Great Grandfather, but he never knew her. Apparently Paris' Grandfather and Conrad Hilton's son, William Barron Hilton said that he, "is embarrassed by his granddaughter Paris' behavior and believes it has sullied the family name."
  

Demi Moore, actress

• Yeah, she was married to Bruce Willis and is now married to Ashton Kutcher. Hmmm...
• Little Richard actually presided over her wedding to Bruce Willis.
• Named Demetria after a shampoo that her mother saw in a magazine.

This is probably enough random info for one day...

Dictionary Additions

I came accross an article the other day about the words that Merriam-Webster has added to the dictionary this year. It's interesting to think about how our language changes constantly. I contacted Merriam-Webster to get a full list of additions, but they said that they don't release the full list (of about a hundred words) to the public. Here's my report on some of the gems from this year's additions. I've included a few pics as well as the dates that the words were first encountered in an english-language publication...and, of course, some commentary is included.

• Air quotes (1989): gesture made by raising and flexing the index and middle fingers of both hands, used to call attention to a spoken word or expression. (Thanks to Mike Meyers for modeling the air quotes for us).
• Dirty bomb (1956): bomb designed to release radioactive material.
• I thought it was interesting that this word was first used in 1956, but it is just now making its way into the dictionary.
• Edamame (1951): immature green soybeans, usually in the pod.
• Another old one. I was at the grocery store the other day, and I saw a bag of edamame. It's a good thing that it's now in the dictionary. I mean, had I not read the article, I would not have known what these were.
• Mondegreen (1954): word or phrase that results from a mishearing of something said or sung. From the mishearing in a Scottish ballad of "laid him on the green" as "Lady Mondegreen."
• Pescatarian (1993): vegetarian whose diet includes fish.
• Has anyone heard about the people who claim that Jesus was a pescatarian?
• Soju (1978): a Korean vodka distilled from rice.
• Soju is a word I have used several times since returning from Korea and wondered why people don't understand me. Maybe more people will know what I'm talking about now. Japanese Sake has been a well-known word in english for a long time.
  
• Subprime (1995) 1: having or being an interest rate that is higher than a prime rate and is extended especially to low-income borrowers; 2: extending or obtaining a subprime loan.
• If anyone has not heard this word --where have you been for the last few years?

I'll try to make the next post a bit less educational...or not!

ABQ Rankings

I know some faithful readers of the BBBBlog are probably tired of hearing about how great Albuquerque, NM is, but I stumbled onto a website that lists where the Duke City ranks in a ton of areas. I promise this will be the last time I blog about this for a while. Here are some good ones:

Albuquerque ranks as the

• 5th best place to build personal wealth
• 3rd Fittest City
• No. 16 of America's Greenest Cities
• Third Most Pet-Friendly City in America
• Third Best Place to Own Real Estate

The Honorable Mention goes to nearby Rio Rancho, NM who ranks #83 on the Top 100 places to start a business.

Here's the full list of Albuquerque's Rankings

FYI: Bob's Bank Rocks!

As most of you know, Bob is now working at First Federal Bank in Albuquerque as a Commercial Credit Analyst. Here's some information you may not have known--First Federal is a division of Washington Federal Savings Bank and Washington Federal (NYSE: WFSL) has been named the strongest thrift institution in the United States by SNL Financial. A thrift is a type of bank. Check Investopedia for more info. Click here for the top 20 strongest and the top 20 weakest thrifts in the U.S.

FYI: Washington Federal made conservative, fixed-rate home loans and kept its overhead low during the boom a few years ago and, therefore, the bank is avoiding many of the issues resulting from the crisis in the sub-prime mortgage and housing markets. It's pretty good for a bank to be making money right now when most are not only losing, but most are losing a lot. This boils down to two very important words: job security.

My Girl's Ex Boyfriend

Sorry, I'm a little late on this, but here is the Relient K song for July. This month Emily and I will be having our 4th Anniversary and as a way of celebrating I dedicate this song to Emily's Ex boyfriend(s) for leaving the door open for me to sweep her off her feet. Oh, and Emily still likes me, by the way...A LOT!

If you haven't enjoyed the previous additions of Relient K music, check this one out...the lyrics are really clever.





When he was seeing her
You could see he had his doubts
Now he's missing her because
He knows he's missing out
Now its haunting him
The memory's like a ghost and he's so terrified
Cause no one else even comes close
He's the guy that you should feel sorry for
He had the world but he thought that he wanted more
I owe it all to the mistake he made back then
I owe it all to my girl's ex-boyfriend

So then, along comes me This undeserving mess (undeserving mess)
Who would believe my life Would be so blessed (life would be so blessed)
Two years ago When he left all that debris (left all that debris)
Who would have known He would leave everything I need

He's the guy that you should feel sorry for
He had the world but he thought that he wanted more
I owe it all to the mistake that he made back then
I owe it all to my girl's ex-boyfriend

If it wasn't for him I would still be searching
If it wasn't for him I wouldn't know my best friend
If it wasn't for him He would be able to see
If it wasn't for him He'd be as happy as me

She and I settled down you can bet
That he is going to have to settle for less
He's someone I would hate to be
I got the girl and he's left with just the memory.

He's the guy that you should feel sorry for
He had the world but he thought that he wanted more
I owe it all to the mistake he made back then
I owe it all to my girl's ex-boyfriend

If it wasn't for him I would still be searching
If it wasn't for him I wouldn't know my best friend
If it wasn't for him He would be able to see
If it wasn't for him He would be as happy as me

Come for a Visit!

A few blogs ago I mentioned that Albuquerque has been rated #8 on the top ten list of places to live in the U.S. Well, I just found out that Albuquerque is also on a different list. It's #2 on AAA's list of most affordable vacation destinations in the Country. Click here for the full article and get ready for your visit...