I am not quite sure whether to call this a letter of basic complaints or just a basic letter to point out the general stupidity in New Mexico.

Thinking I'd try somewhere new, I moved to the Santa Fe area exactly one year ago next month — a "have an adventure out West" kind of thing. But since my move I've not experience adventure, just great frustration at how backward this state is.

I am frustrated with our great hospital, which sends me a bill for $150, which I'd already paid, only to receive another bill one month later. I called and was told my check was only for $100, even though I clearly had a copy of the $150 check (cashed by St. Vincent Regional Medical Center three weeks earlier). There was no explanation for the missing $50, no inquiry, just an "OK, your account is paid in full."

I am frustrated with our local utility-meter reader, who hadn't noticed that our home was obviously occupied in the five months that received a zero-use reading. Then our meter is suddenly "fixed" and we received a bill for $500 — which includes $300 in "over-use" fees that never occurred.

I am frustrated at the lack of education, not only in Santa Fe, but in New Mexico as a whole. I am tired of listening to my friends' fears about sending their children to public school and about their inability to afford private schools, where their children might actually get a decent education.

Lastly, I am mostly frustrated with the general work ethic of New Mexico. I have never lived in a place where employees who are no-shows week after week continue to be employed. I am tired of the sales floor's attitude in every store. Is this state so lazy and uneducated that we are unable to see all the things in life we are missing out on?

It seems so many of us here would rather get drunk, get pregnant or go home and beat our families than to actually pursue some sort of goal in life. So New Mexico, please show me where the good in you lies, for I am getting quite tired of dealing with so much stupidity and lack of ambition.

Valerie Dryka lives in Santa Fe.