If there’s one thing I could pass on to readers for the New Year, it’s guarding against getting bilked. Almost daily we read about the people falling victim to unscrupulous scammers who promise instant wealth.
    I was sweating it out this week, alongside David Griego, a retired Mora High School mathematics teacher. We were at the Abe Montoya Recreation Center. I wondered why he wasn’t even breathing hard while striding on his treadmill. With his 150-pound frame, he didn’t sweat at all.
    In my youth, I came across a professor who became particularly vexatious one day in employing what most of us consider profanity. Making the point that words don’t hurt, he asked us students, “How would it hurt you if — hypothetically — I called you a — (because this is a family newspaper, I can only imply the sexual and scatological tenor of his quote).”
    It’s interesting the kinds of spins we customarily put on words. Even the popular Fox TV talk show host Bill O’Reilly cautions viewers that they’re “about to enter the no-spin zone.”
    It’s a case of unmitigated irony, as Bill O’Really’s program is pure spin: bash the Democrats.
    As a resident of the 22nd wealthiest county in New Mexico, I find it necessary to try to earn some of the big bucks the publisher throws our way.
    In case you missed it, of New Mexico’s 33 counties, San Miguel ranks in the lower half, with a median household income of $27,092, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The latest data reflect incomes from the year 2003.