Home Improvement

It’s been weeks since I posted. It’s amazing how quickly time passes!

We had started a couple home improvement projects and I had toyed with the idea of posting as we progressed. I was taking pictures to include in each post and I had twenty seven 8x10 inch color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph explaining each one. It would have been awesome (at least in my mind it would have been awesome).

Well, we went from a simple bathroom renovation to a full court press to get ready for an open house.

You’re probably asking yourself, “Self, how does one go from painting the bathroom to selling the house? It seems like a hasty decision.” Well, I ask you to remember my post, Should I Stay or Should I Go Now from 2/13/14. We’ve been thinking of downsizing for a while. But thinking about it and actually doing it are two wholly different things. What was the deciding factor? I’ll tell ya.

I have a really large deck. I know a lot of guys say that but in my case it is true. I was in the process of prepping the deck for staining (replacing wood, sanding, scraping, power washing, etc.) and the enormity of the chore became staggering. My bride suggested we take another look at “the condos” so within half an hour we were walking through a two-car garage unit.

The condo was/is really nice and before you could say, “Painting the deck every four years really sucks,” we were prepping our house for sale so we could buy a condo.

You have to understand; our house has good bones, but like an aging Hollywood star it needed a facelift to remain current. So, for close to five weeks we painted, cleaned (holy crap; we accumulated a lot of stuff in fourteen years), organized, landscaped, etc. etc. etc. Sleep became a hindrance rather than a benefit.

But … it paid off. We had the open house five days after being listed and we received two offers for asking price.

The next few weeks will be hectic as we prep for moving. We still have to line up people to help us move, finish the cleansing and the packing, and I’ll probably have to mow the lawn at least one more time.

Am I going to miss owning a house? Will I miss mowing the lawn, trimming the shrubs, raking the leaves, spring cleaning, spreading mulch, vacuuming the pool … well, you get the idea. When we aren’t doing something, we’re worried about getting something done.

You notice I wrote, “house” verses “home.” The reason being is the house does not make the home. To answer my own query, “NO, I won’t miss owning a house.”

What do you think; would you want to live in a condo?

For the Birds

On May 22^nd, 2014 as I was backing into the garage, I noticed a bird zipping away from the house. I wondered if it had become trapped in the garage and escaped when I opened the door.

It was not as simple as that. I don’t know how I missed it, but “they” had built a nest between the garage doors. It nestled snuggly between the outside light and the garage wall. We’ve lived in this house for fourteen years and this is the first time any birds have made a permanent roost on the light.

I wasn’t going to let it stay. I figured bird crap would be dribbling down the side of the garage as the summer progressed. Yuck! I was going to rip it down. However, I was urged to make certain there weren’t any babies on board before I razed the pile of twigs and straw.

5/23

Yup, you probably guessed; there were three eggs resting in the nest. I’ve been called many things, heartless bastard being the most popular, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull the nest apart. The next day I checked it and there was now a fourth egg. It was speckled and that sealed it; the nest was staying put until the birds flew the coop, so to speak.

I decided to maintain a pictorial journal to track the birds’ progress. Every night around 5 PM I snapped a picture of the nest.

The first thing I noted was that the speckled egg was in a different location each day. I thought that was interesting.

For the next eighteen days I tracked the progress of my birds, as my family had come to call them.

On 6/1, the speckled egg was the first to hatch. On 6/5, a second bird broke free from its shell. Over the next few days the babies went from pink blobs to creatures that became recognizable as avian.

6/1

6/5

Alas, we got no further. On 6/10, they were chirping away and on 6/11, they weren’t; they’d passed. I have no idea what happened. It was kind of sad.

I disposed of the nest and I can guarantee that next year I will be vigilant and make certain no nest is built in that location.

But, what do you think; if the birds try again next year should I let the nest stay or not?

Back to Florida?

You know you’re in Florida when …

This sign is at the intersection of

 routes  98 and 301 in Dade City.

We recently traveled to Dade City, Florida to visit the in-laws. I enjoy getting away from New England winter weather, and Florida in February is a viable option.

My in-laws live in a fifty-five-and-over community. Every time an ambulance enters the park my father-in-law exclaims, “Looks like another home is going to be available.” Which explains something I read (I don’t remember where) that says that Florida is God’s waiting room (though I’m fairly certain this statement would apply to a variety of locales).

I’ve written in previous posts that my bride and I are reaching that age where we’re beginning to entertain the possibility of downsizing, with an eye toward retirement. I just turned fifty-five and as my father-in-law so knowingly informed me, we could buy the trailer, excuse me, manufactured home, three doors down from them. However, as tempting as that might be, I’m not certain that Florida is a place I’d like to live year round.

Don’t get me wrong, the state has many enticing attractions and tourist destinations, such as Disney World and Universal Studios.  But as my brother told me when he retired to the Las Vegas area, “You have to remember you’re not a tourist anymore and budget accordingly.”

Castillo de San Marcos

Image Courtesy Google Images

To be fair, Florida isn’t all theme parks and roller coasters. In April, we took a trip to St. Augustine. Did you know that St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States? I didn’t.  In 2014 they’re celebrating their 450th anniversary. Among the attractions is Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park, Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum and Castillo de San Marcos – the oldest remaining European fort in the United States.

And then there’s the “no state income tax” benefit. Florida is one of seven states that do not have an income tax. When you’re on a fixed income keeping every dime of your retirement benefit is huge.

But even that might not be enough to persuade us to move to Florida full time. We’ve toured the state on many occasions, but before we make a final decision, we owe it to ourselves to visit other locales to help us make an informed decision. Relocation is more than just escaping the snow and cold … it’s about finding a place we can call home.

Maybe we should do a partial snowbird and spend January through March in Florida (or some other warmer clime – say Hawaii). By doing that, we wouldn’t have to worry about maintaining two homes year round.

What do you think … Florida for an entire year, or October into April, or maybe some other time frame?

More Driving My Car

In response to my Driving My Car blog, a reader from Nevada added to my list of driving gripes.

1. Those idiots that speed down the right turn only lane and then cut in front of you. Sometimes they just use the breakdown lane.

2. Talking on the cell instead of paying attention to the road - been cut-off several times by that person.

3. Tear-assing through the parking lots like they're on the highway.

4. Red light? What red light? (Also applies to Stop Signs).

5. I signal for a left turn and start the turn. The guy behind me decides it's time to pass (even though it's a solid DO NOT PASS line). Sometimes it applies to a right turn (see item 1 above).

6. Buzzing along the freeway in the passing lane then crossing 3 lanes of traffic (whether or not there's space to do so) just to make an exit. This maneuver must be done within 100 yards of the exit.

7. Especially when we're towing; I leave plenty of room for stopping. The 3 guys behind me have to pass, even though we're all doing the speed limit.

He also writes, “Having had the advantage of driving all across the country several times, I've observed that this behavior isn't necessarily confined to one particular region.”

So, I’m certain we’re not the only two people that have observed bizarre (and frequently dangerous) driving behavior. I’m still looking for people to share.

Driving My Car

I grew up in a small Western Massachusetts town. There wasn’t (and still isn’t) one traffic light. The police force was volunteers (much like the fire department). There was one store that was open Monday thru Friday 7 AM to 6:30 PM, 9 to 5 on Saturday and closed on Sunday.

Courtesy Google Images

As a teen in this town, there were a few options for employment.
1. The Box Shop – but you had to be 16
2. The Drum Shop – again, age 16
3. Picking apples and blueberries
4. If you were lucky (though I’m not certain I’d call it luck) your parents would drive you one town over to pick tobacco.

So, as a kid, I couldn’t wait to get my license and obtain a modicum of freedom. I remember riding in the backseat of a car and thinking how cool it must feel to be the only person in the car when you’re driving.

Man how times change. I’ve had my license for close to forty years, and I gotta say I do not find driving to be a cool experience anymore. (Rant time – if you don’t like to listen to people bitch best stop reading here.)

Now … everyone makes mistakes when they’re driving. When I do something stupid behind the wheel, I own it. I try to let the other driver know I screwed up by giving the apologetic wave, “Hey, sorry. I’m a dumb ass.”

And that’s the difference between folks like me and the A-hole; the A-hole flips you off when they make the mistake.

With this in mind, I present five things that irritate me while driving (in no particular order),
1. If you pull out of a side street … don’t meander. Step on it! Get into the flow of traffic as quick as possible.
2. And in that vein … if it’s that important that you must be in front of me … can you at least do the speed limit?
3. Back in the olden days (like when my eldest brother was learning to drive), it was probably a nuisance to stick your arm out the window to signal a turning event. However, street legal vehicles have these handy gadgets call directionals that allow driver A to, in theory, give others in the surrounding vehicles some hint of what driver A is planning to do next. I don’t get what is so hard about using directionals … finger cramps?
4. If you’re planning to make a left turn, how about moving as far left as you can so people behind you can get by on the right.
5. If you’re making a right turn in anything other than an eighteen wheeler, you don’t need to make a big looping swerve left before you turn right. Trust me; unless you’re that bad of a driver, you’re not going to hit anything with the passenger side of the car.

I know, petty whining. But I gotta admit, I don’t find driving nearly as enjoyable as I did when I got my license. Sometimes I miss those days in that small town when I didn’t have to drive anywhere.

Does anyone have anything they’d like to add to the driving rant list?

Winter Getaway

Disney Fantasy

Winter sucks! Yeah, I’ve got the winter blues. It doesn’t help that I have a brother that sends me weather updates from Nevada.

My bride and I found a way to beat back the blahs for a short time: a seven day, Western Caribbean cruise on the Disney Fantasy. Oh man … great weather, great food, relaxation and not a hint of snow … and best of all? When we got home, our driveway had been cleared of the snow that fell on Wednesday, 2/19.

The cruise included four ports of call: Grand Cayman; Costa Maya, Mexico; Cozumel, Mexico and Castaway Cay (Disney’s private island). This is our third Disney cruise. (The other two were four day Bahamian trips that included two ports.)

Grand Cayman: Cayman Turtle Farm: Island Wildlife Encounter
According to our guide, one man owns 60 – 65% of the assets on Grand Cayman – I accepted the statement at face value and haven’t bothered to verify its veracity. We visited the Cayman Turtle Farm: Island Wildlife Encounter. The main attraction here is the endangered turtles that the facility is breeding to release back into the wild. Guests are able to feed and hold young turtles. It was an interesting day but due to time constraints – we only had four hours – we didn’t do much else.

Our Mayan guide

Costa Maya, Mexico: The Chacchoben Maya Ruins
We drove an hour via bus. Our guide, was personable and knowledgeable and 100% Mayan. He said there were only about 1 million pure blood Mayans in the Yucatán Peninsula and 5 million Mayans in total throughout the United Mexican States.

A Mayan city might have as many as 11,000 people. Our guide said that the civilization declined because the cities’ population grew too large to support its citizens and bands of people moved into the jungle to try to start new cities.

Excavated temple                                Partial excavation

The ruins were impressive. The Chacchoben Maya Ruins are only partially excavated. There are many large mounds of soil covered in jungle growth and underneath each mound is another structure. Our guide said there are over 1,200 Mayan sites identified throughout Mexico. Only a handful has been even partially cleared.

Dolphin Discovery - Google images

Cozumel, Mexico: Dolphin Discovery
In Cozumel we visited Dolphin Discovery inside Chankanaab National Park and we swam with the dolphins … OK … we actually swam with a dolphin … OK … we actually stood in the water while a dolphin swam past us, but there was a dolphin and there was swimming involved.

Our group of fifteen descended a small flight of steps onto a platform that was probably three feet below the water’s surface. We stood in a line and a trainer commanded the dolphin to swim down the line affording each member of the group an opportunity to touch the dolphin’s skin. I expected the animal’s skin to be slimy but it felt more rubbery.

Our dolphin was supposed to perform four tricks with each guest: a kiss on the lips, a kiss on the cheek, rise out of the water and plant her snout against the guest’s palm and a fin shake.

You gotta love animals; they definitely have minds of their own. Our dolphin was in no mood to show off. Our trainer had to coax her to perform. She just wanted to swim and never mind the paying customers. Eventually, she did her job and every member of our group had a chance to kiss and shake.

I enjoyed the encounter for no other reason than I just think dolphins are cool. However, I have no proof of our participation in this activity because we decided the picture they took was not worth $37.

Castaway Cay
Our last stop. We made a beeline for the adult beach (age 18 and up). We spent the whole day there. We read, swam, walked the shore and explored the shallow waters of the beach. There are all sorts of marine life. I was able to get within four or five feet of a stingray that was resting in the sand.

Stingray

It was the most relaxing day of the cruise because we didn’t have a schedule to keep.

Our moment of Zen came to a grinding halt when we stepped off the plane at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT. Back to the cold, grey, overcast that has been this New England (and beyond) winter.

But we persevere (don’t you feel bad for us?). Winter is coming to an end, spring is a couple weeks away and we’re planning our next February escape (WOOT WOOT!).

I’m curious; do others feel a need to get away from winter for a while? Let me know.

Should I Go or Should I Stay Now?

So, I haven’t blogged in a couple weeks (really, it’s been longer than that). I’ve been up to my elbows in a bathroom facelift (and this is just the beginning).

Left: Too much wallpaper             Right: Painted Feather Gray

Left: Old light switches                     Right: New light switches

My bride and I have reached that stage of our life when we’re contemplating downsizing. It’s not an urgent need but it looms and we want to be prepared. We have one child left at home and the house is too big. When there were six of us living in the house we needed the space but now … not so much.

Our ideal home would have one story, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining area, a living room, a basement that could be finished, 2 car garage, natural gas, sewer, town water and a small, flat lot that does not require much TLC. Oh yeah, and newer construction. We don’t want a 1950 or 60 rehab (we watch HGTV and we’ve witnessed the issues that can arise when it comes to rehabbing an old house when we attempted to rehab a 200 plus year old money pit – screw that!).

Unfortunately, the ideal home does not come with an ideal price tag. Holy crap, new houses are expensive. The ones we’ve perused in our desired area are pushing four hundred thousand.

There are some “bargains” in other regions of the country such as Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. But that would mean relocating.

A few years ago I would have had no problem with the notion of relocation. But now we’ve got a couple of grandkids and I’m not nearly as certain that I want to move too far.

It’s a conundrum. Do we settle for a place that is less then what we want so that we can stay closer to the kids and grandkids or do we pick up and leave and risk missing watching, firsthand, our kids’ families flourish?

I admit I vacillate from one extreme to the other. I rationalize by saying that there’s Skype and FaceTime and a host of other media available to maintain contact but is it the same as being there?

I guess it comes down to what is best for us (and right now I’m not certain we know what that might be). We’ve got time to figure it out but before we know it we’ll have to make a decision.

What do you think – downsize and move or stay and watch the kids grow?