We never made it to the Verizon store yesterday. I had a few questions I needed answered, so I called Verizon. I found out that Al can give his "new every two" credits to another line on the plan. This way, he can keep his old phone and number that he wanted and we can put the Droid phone on my line. All we have have to do is call them and have it activated on my line :)
We went ahead and ordered the phone online. It was $199. If I had picked it up at the local Verizon store, I would have to pay $299 and then send for a $100 rebate. It's ordered, free shipping and two day Fed-Ex delivery! The monthly fee is $29.99, but I have a 22% discount so that will help a little.
Frequently when we're going somewhere, we wish we had internet, and this will give us that. It's small enough that I'll be able to carry it, and the screen is big enough so that I can see it (I think). When we're traveling I can tether it to my laptop and I think there is a way to tether 2 laptops without any additional fees for Verizon.
I've been doing some reading on the Droid. I will need to install a program called Pda-net to allow free tethering. The phone comes with unlimited data. I hear this may be changing soon, so that's another reason I wanted to go ahead and get it. Hopefully my unlimited data will be grandfathered in. There is another fix I have been reading about that would allow the phone to be a "hotspot". It's called rooting. Rooting basically unlocks all the features of the phone and gives you administrative control on the phone. It's not something for the faint of heart though, because if you mess up, you can ruin the phone. Maybe I don't need to do that!
I can't wait to get it!
Nothing much planned today. We kind of thought of taking a day trip somewhere, but there is really no place close to home and we're not really in the mood to drive too far. I think we may just stay here and get more things ready to go to the garage sale this week-end. We're hoping for a big day because it's the first of the month, and the weather should be really nice. We may even sit on the front porch, read, and watch the birds!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Open House
Our Realtor had a Realtor Open House this morning. About 7-8 local Realtors showed up.
We got some very nice compliments. First, they said, oh good, no clutter! Oh if they only knew! Keeping the clutter down is a constant battle. Then they said the house smelled so fresh. When you have animals, that's also good to hear. They saw our Rabbit Air Purification system and asked if that was what made it smell so fresh. I'm sure that's part of it because it certainly takes odors out of the house as well as purify the air. I especially like it when I'm cooking. A good hamburger or roast smells good when you're cooking or eating it, but you don't want it to smell that way when someone comes to see your house. I've been having a problem with lingering onion odors and finally figured my wooden cutting board was the culprit. Duh! I'm new to using cutting boards. My friend Carol couldn't believe I didn't even have one, so she bought me one and now I'm hooked. I just always used a plate to cut on, and then it could just be washed when I was finished. It made sense to me, but now after using a wooden one for a while, I have to admit I do prefer it to the plate :)
I have a few other tricks I'm learning for making the house smell good. Did you know mouthwash in the toilet bowl makes the room smell nice?
Well now that the house is all shined up, I wish someone would call and come see it!
We have the seamless gutter guys here putting up new 6 inch gutters on the back of the house. We just had too many problems with the other ones and water was leaking where it shouldn't. We know we won't get the money out of it when we sell, but it will also relieve a lot of aggravation when it rains.
After they leave, I think we make a trip into town and see about getting a new Droid X phone. I've been wanting one. There are so many times when I wished I had internet when we're just driving around. Al's phone is eligible for the new every two years program, however, I want the Droid and he wants to keep what he has. He doesn't need anything that he would have to worry about beating up. I'd kill him if he dinged up my new Droid. So, if we can get the phone under his number, then switch the numbers around so that I have the droid and he has his old phone, we'll probably get one.He needs to keep his phone number for business use. They switched the numbers a while back when his phone died and he had to go back to using last years phone. I don't know if it will make any difference since we have to sign up for the new plan. I guess we'll find out.
Another nice day...it's almost noon and the temperature is only 79 degrees!
We got some very nice compliments. First, they said, oh good, no clutter! Oh if they only knew! Keeping the clutter down is a constant battle. Then they said the house smelled so fresh. When you have animals, that's also good to hear. They saw our Rabbit Air Purification system and asked if that was what made it smell so fresh. I'm sure that's part of it because it certainly takes odors out of the house as well as purify the air. I especially like it when I'm cooking. A good hamburger or roast smells good when you're cooking or eating it, but you don't want it to smell that way when someone comes to see your house. I've been having a problem with lingering onion odors and finally figured my wooden cutting board was the culprit. Duh! I'm new to using cutting boards. My friend Carol couldn't believe I didn't even have one, so she bought me one and now I'm hooked. I just always used a plate to cut on, and then it could just be washed when I was finished. It made sense to me, but now after using a wooden one for a while, I have to admit I do prefer it to the plate :)
I have a few other tricks I'm learning for making the house smell good. Did you know mouthwash in the toilet bowl makes the room smell nice?
Well now that the house is all shined up, I wish someone would call and come see it!
We have the seamless gutter guys here putting up new 6 inch gutters on the back of the house. We just had too many problems with the other ones and water was leaking where it shouldn't. We know we won't get the money out of it when we sell, but it will also relieve a lot of aggravation when it rains.
After they leave, I think we make a trip into town and see about getting a new Droid X phone. I've been wanting one. There are so many times when I wished I had internet when we're just driving around. Al's phone is eligible for the new every two years program, however, I want the Droid and he wants to keep what he has. He doesn't need anything that he would have to worry about beating up. I'd kill him if he dinged up my new Droid. So, if we can get the phone under his number, then switch the numbers around so that I have the droid and he has his old phone, we'll probably get one.He needs to keep his phone number for business use. They switched the numbers a while back when his phone died and he had to go back to using last years phone. I don't know if it will make any difference since we have to sign up for the new plan. I guess we'll find out.
Another nice day...it's almost noon and the temperature is only 79 degrees!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
First Cold Front
Well after a rainy day yesterday, a cold front finally managed to push all the way through to south Georgia. :)
We got up this morning to a temperature of 59 degrees! Hallelujah! The first thing we did was open the doors and put on our warm robes. I immediately noticed the very strong fragrance from my blooming Gardenias. It's almost too fragrant. The birds are chirping, and the Hummingbirds are buzzing around, and the sun is coming up. What a beautiful morning
It started cooling off yesterday after the rain quit and we noticed the humidity had dropped. We do a regular "happy hour" ride on the golf cart (yes, we drink and drive), and I found I had to put on a sweat shirt and pants to stay warm. Al called me a wienie, but it was chilly! Okay, it was only 70 degrees, but with low humidity, it was nippy!
Yesterday was a little bit of a lazy day, but we did manage to accomplish a few things. We started the morning watching a movie about General Custer. I have been reading a lot of blogs from people that are in South Dakota (my birth state) and in Custer State Park. The movie seemed like a good way to refresh my memory on what happened there. I was not much into history in school, but I have found the older I get, the more interesting it is. It was sure a shame what was done to the Indians.
After we watched the movie, I decided to tackle our closet again. We have WAY too many clothes and although I already went through everything once, it needed more purging. We have found that we have clothing in the closets in the 3 bedrooms, the motorhome and even storage boxes in the garage. It makes it very difficult to even know what you have, so I am in the process of finding out. I counted just the short sleeved t-shirts in Al's side of the closet. He had 45! That doesn't count what is in the motor home, or in the boxes in the garage. That's ridiculous and I don't know how that happened. We have similar issues with sweat clothes, and I am going to go through them as well. We like sweats for around the house and campgrounds in the cooler months, but we don't need as many as we have.
I pulled a few things for Good Will and the garage sale, but most of the t-shirts are still in the closet. I don't know how long we will have this house, but those clothes can easily and quickly go, when needed. In the meantime, at least I know what's there.
I have to go to the dentist today for a crown, but with the cooler weather, it will be a good day to get some more purging done.
We got up this morning to a temperature of 59 degrees! Hallelujah! The first thing we did was open the doors and put on our warm robes. I immediately noticed the very strong fragrance from my blooming Gardenias. It's almost too fragrant. The birds are chirping, and the Hummingbirds are buzzing around, and the sun is coming up. What a beautiful morning
It started cooling off yesterday after the rain quit and we noticed the humidity had dropped. We do a regular "happy hour" ride on the golf cart (yes, we drink and drive), and I found I had to put on a sweat shirt and pants to stay warm. Al called me a wienie, but it was chilly! Okay, it was only 70 degrees, but with low humidity, it was nippy!
Yesterday was a little bit of a lazy day, but we did manage to accomplish a few things. We started the morning watching a movie about General Custer. I have been reading a lot of blogs from people that are in South Dakota (my birth state) and in Custer State Park. The movie seemed like a good way to refresh my memory on what happened there. I was not much into history in school, but I have found the older I get, the more interesting it is. It was sure a shame what was done to the Indians.
After we watched the movie, I decided to tackle our closet again. We have WAY too many clothes and although I already went through everything once, it needed more purging. We have found that we have clothing in the closets in the 3 bedrooms, the motorhome and even storage boxes in the garage. It makes it very difficult to even know what you have, so I am in the process of finding out. I counted just the short sleeved t-shirts in Al's side of the closet. He had 45! That doesn't count what is in the motor home, or in the boxes in the garage. That's ridiculous and I don't know how that happened. We have similar issues with sweat clothes, and I am going to go through them as well. We like sweats for around the house and campgrounds in the cooler months, but we don't need as many as we have.
I pulled a few things for Good Will and the garage sale, but most of the t-shirts are still in the closet. I don't know how long we will have this house, but those clothes can easily and quickly go, when needed. In the meantime, at least I know what's there.
I have to go to the dentist today for a crown, but with the cooler weather, it will be a good day to get some more purging done.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Rainy Day in Georgia
We're finally getting our very much needed rain and I can see the grass growing as I speak :) We've had about an inch so far and it's been light for the most part, so it should sink in and do some good. I think it's supposed to rain most of the day.
Al wanted to go somewhere (anywhere) today but I think the weather is going to keep us home. I think he wants a day off and he's not one to sit around and be lazy, so he wanted to get away from the house/work. He feels guilty if he doesn't do something when he is home, so he always gets up and does something. I, on the other hand, have absolutely no guilt and can be lazy with the best of them.
Yesterday was football day so Al spent some time watching the Bucs play. They lost, so it wasn't a good day for him. He worked up in the garage for a while and I worked inside the motor home. I decided to go through everything and clean out non-essential items. Some of the things we brought with us while on camping trips, just won't make the cut for full-timing or even longer trips. I also have begun moving things to better locations. I surveyed our two small closets, wondering how in the heck would we get all of our clothes and shoes in there? We have way more shirts, and blouses than we need, but they are scattered between the 3 closets in the house, the rv, and storage boxes in the garage. We need to get it all together so we can see what we actually have, and need and toss the rest. That might be a good project for today. See, that's why Al wants to go somewhere today! I got all the drawers cleaned out in the bedroom and kitchen. We had too many things inside that need to be in the basement. The kitchen drawers had too many non kitchen items. I plan to start bringing more things to the motor home. Our trip to Florida for 2 1/2 months will be longer than we've ever stayed in the rv, so I'm going to need a few more kitchen things.
Last night I made home made pizza. I tried something new, using garlic Alfredo sauce instead of regular pizza sauce. I used some strips of buffalo chicken, onions, black olives, a few diced tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. I liked it for something different, but it wasn't Al's favorite. Oh well! I have discovered the type/brand of flour I use for the dough makes a big difference.
I just got a request to work on Al's laptop so that he can use it. I need to take off a few thousand photos' so that it runs properly. I haven't gotten around to doing it because I'm trying to figure out how to do so with some kind of order. My photos aren't organized well and I really need to work on both laptops to get some order.
Al wanted to go somewhere (anywhere) today but I think the weather is going to keep us home. I think he wants a day off and he's not one to sit around and be lazy, so he wanted to get away from the house/work. He feels guilty if he doesn't do something when he is home, so he always gets up and does something. I, on the other hand, have absolutely no guilt and can be lazy with the best of them.
Yesterday was football day so Al spent some time watching the Bucs play. They lost, so it wasn't a good day for him. He worked up in the garage for a while and I worked inside the motor home. I decided to go through everything and clean out non-essential items. Some of the things we brought with us while on camping trips, just won't make the cut for full-timing or even longer trips. I also have begun moving things to better locations. I surveyed our two small closets, wondering how in the heck would we get all of our clothes and shoes in there? We have way more shirts, and blouses than we need, but they are scattered between the 3 closets in the house, the rv, and storage boxes in the garage. We need to get it all together so we can see what we actually have, and need and toss the rest. That might be a good project for today. See, that's why Al wants to go somewhere today! I got all the drawers cleaned out in the bedroom and kitchen. We had too many things inside that need to be in the basement. The kitchen drawers had too many non kitchen items. I plan to start bringing more things to the motor home. Our trip to Florida for 2 1/2 months will be longer than we've ever stayed in the rv, so I'm going to need a few more kitchen things.
Last night I made home made pizza. I tried something new, using garlic Alfredo sauce instead of regular pizza sauce. I used some strips of buffalo chicken, onions, black olives, a few diced tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. I liked it for something different, but it wasn't Al's favorite. Oh well! I have discovered the type/brand of flour I use for the dough makes a big difference.
I just got a request to work on Al's laptop so that he can use it. I need to take off a few thousand photos' so that it runs properly. I haven't gotten around to doing it because I'm trying to figure out how to do so with some kind of order. My photos aren't organized well and I really need to work on both laptops to get some order.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Weekly Garage Sale
We got up early yesterday morning and started the garage sale by around 8am. Rain was predicted and we thought we might be rained out. It was a little cloudy, but we never did get any rain. The clouds and breeze made it quite comfortable. We sold some Christmas items and some camping and beach chairs that had been overlooked the past few weeks. We felt good about that. We only made $77, but it's adding up and we're getting rid of more stuff!
After the sale was over, I grabbed a bunch of clothing and dropped it off at the Goodwill center. I think more clothing needs to go straight to Goodwill and not to the garage sale. This week we intend to go through more clothing as well as Christmas decorations.
We spent the afternoon hanging around the house and waiting for the rain that never came. After a long nap (this house selling is tiring) we got up and I went out and finished mowing the pasture. Al climbed up on the roof and cleaned out the gutters. We've been having a terrible time with our gutters leaking down behind the covered porch on the back. We had a guy out the other day to give us a quote for new larger gutters. We hate to spend the money since the house is up for sale, but we don't know how long we'll be here and we're tired of water problems, so I think we're going to go ahead and get it done.
We got some very good news yesterday. We have a rental house in Tampa and in the past, we have only been able to keep the renters for a year. When they move on and we have to pay for cleaning, painting and finding new people. We always end up without renters for a few months...and no rent checks! Evidently these people have decided to re-new their lease! That will save us close to $3000. Yes, that was very good news!
Today is Bucs football for Al and I may read a book! No work today (yeah, right)
Friday, September 24, 2010
2nd Home Showing
Well the second home showing is over and went well. Even though we just had the last showing a few days earlier, somehow we still managed to have a lot to do before the showing. There always seems to be a lot of last minute things to do. Maybe we will get better at this over time, but right now, it's kicking our butts!
The guy who looked at the house today was a friend/boyfriend of a neighbor lady. We had met her once when she first moved in. She had a sad story to tell. Evidently she and her husband had planned to travel fulltime in an Rv once he retired. Unfortunately he died of a heart attack before that could happen. It just goes to show, tomorrow is not guaranteed and you need to enjoy life while you have it. This same neighbor also lost her daughter and is now raising her grand daughter.
Anyway, Al thinks they just wanted to come look at our property and that he was not really interested in buying. I'm not sure, I kind of think he was looking, but can't be positive. They both liked the place real well. He has a couple of horses so it would be perfect for him. Evidently he is renting now and they do not live together. Oh well, at least it got us motivated and we got more things done and the house is clean and shiny again!
After the showing, we headed into town and had lunch and then went to the bread store before heading home for a nice long nap! Tonight we plan to watch a movie. The same movie that we were planning to watch a few nights ago when that first call from the Realtor changed all our plans!
Tomorrow is garage sale day again, providing it's not raining. We have been having such a drought, but now the tropical storm/hurricanes are bringing moisture this way so we're in for a few rainy days. Hopefully, no hurricanes, but it's that time of year.
The guy who looked at the house today was a friend/boyfriend of a neighbor lady. We had met her once when she first moved in. She had a sad story to tell. Evidently she and her husband had planned to travel fulltime in an Rv once he retired. Unfortunately he died of a heart attack before that could happen. It just goes to show, tomorrow is not guaranteed and you need to enjoy life while you have it. This same neighbor also lost her daughter and is now raising her grand daughter.
Anyway, Al thinks they just wanted to come look at our property and that he was not really interested in buying. I'm not sure, I kind of think he was looking, but can't be positive. They both liked the place real well. He has a couple of horses so it would be perfect for him. Evidently he is renting now and they do not live together. Oh well, at least it got us motivated and we got more things done and the house is clean and shiny again!
After the showing, we headed into town and had lunch and then went to the bread store before heading home for a nice long nap! Tonight we plan to watch a movie. The same movie that we were planning to watch a few nights ago when that first call from the Realtor changed all our plans!
Tomorrow is garage sale day again, providing it's not raining. We have been having such a drought, but now the tropical storm/hurricanes are bringing moisture this way so we're in for a few rainy days. Hopefully, no hurricanes, but it's that time of year.
Home Showing Today
We spent Thursday day working around the house preparing for another house showing. We can always find things that need doing.
These two showings have really gotten us thinking. What if it sells quickly? We still have too much stuff! Where will we go? We've been thinking of options and "plan b's." Of course we realize a quick sale would be very unlikely in this economy, but we do need to think about the possibility.
Since we plan on leaving for the winter, we have a lot to do and sell in the next few months and maybe our plan to spend the winter in Florida is not the best one. I guess we'd better get this stuff gone!
This upcoming full time rv lifestyle is so hard to explain to non rv'ing people. My dear friend Carol, just doesn't get it. She says she wouldn't like to do what we're planning because she gets homesick and is always anxious return home after a short vacation. Of course I tried to explain that is why we like rv'ing, because our home is always with us along with all the comforts of home and all of our stuff is with us. We always have our home, but our back yard changes whenever we like. She still doesn't get it though.
I think it takes a certain type of person to live full time in an rv, but I don't know what makes a good candidate. For us, I think being raised in military families helped us to realize that you can move and change your life around. There is a big old world out there and we are not limited to living in just one place. We have no grand children to tie us anywhere.
Al and I have always enjoyed exploring new areas. We frequently get in the car and just drive to explore what's out there. We've always done that all of our married life.
Shortly after we got married, we decided to move from Omaha, Nebraska, to Tampa, Florida. Neither of us had even been to Florida, but we just knew we would like it. So we left our parents in the midwest, and headed to Tampa in the spring of 1974. It never occurred to us that we might not like Florida, or that it might not work out for us. We were very happy there for over 30 years before we got the urge to try something new.
I read on some blog last week about a couple that went "home" after being away traveling a while. They found they no longer had much in common with all of their old friends. They had seen and explored so many wonderful places and all their friends wanted to talk about was their health problems, or home projects. None of their friends showed any interest in their travels and never even asked them about where they had been! They had changed but their friends hadn't. I don't want to be one of those people who vegetate in retirement and never see or learn anything new. I think living and traveling in an Rv is the answer for us, but I realize everyone has different reasons for how they choose to live out their retirement years.
I guess I've just been thinking too much lately! After the 10:30 showing this morning we need to gather more stuff for our weekly garage sale.
Wish us luck with our showing today!
These two showings have really gotten us thinking. What if it sells quickly? We still have too much stuff! Where will we go? We've been thinking of options and "plan b's." Of course we realize a quick sale would be very unlikely in this economy, but we do need to think about the possibility.
Since we plan on leaving for the winter, we have a lot to do and sell in the next few months and maybe our plan to spend the winter in Florida is not the best one. I guess we'd better get this stuff gone!
This upcoming full time rv lifestyle is so hard to explain to non rv'ing people. My dear friend Carol, just doesn't get it. She says she wouldn't like to do what we're planning because she gets homesick and is always anxious return home after a short vacation. Of course I tried to explain that is why we like rv'ing, because our home is always with us along with all the comforts of home and all of our stuff is with us. We always have our home, but our back yard changes whenever we like. She still doesn't get it though.
I think it takes a certain type of person to live full time in an rv, but I don't know what makes a good candidate. For us, I think being raised in military families helped us to realize that you can move and change your life around. There is a big old world out there and we are not limited to living in just one place. We have no grand children to tie us anywhere.
Al and I have always enjoyed exploring new areas. We frequently get in the car and just drive to explore what's out there. We've always done that all of our married life.
Shortly after we got married, we decided to move from Omaha, Nebraska, to Tampa, Florida. Neither of us had even been to Florida, but we just knew we would like it. So we left our parents in the midwest, and headed to Tampa in the spring of 1974. It never occurred to us that we might not like Florida, or that it might not work out for us. We were very happy there for over 30 years before we got the urge to try something new.
I read on some blog last week about a couple that went "home" after being away traveling a while. They found they no longer had much in common with all of their old friends. They had seen and explored so many wonderful places and all their friends wanted to talk about was their health problems, or home projects. None of their friends showed any interest in their travels and never even asked them about where they had been! They had changed but their friends hadn't. I don't want to be one of those people who vegetate in retirement and never see or learn anything new. I think living and traveling in an Rv is the answer for us, but I realize everyone has different reasons for how they choose to live out their retirement years.
I guess I've just been thinking too much lately! After the 10:30 showing this morning we need to gather more stuff for our weekly garage sale.
Wish us luck with our showing today!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
2nd Home Showing Scheduled :)
I called the Realtor this morning to see what she knew about the showing yesterday. Our Realtor was not the one who showed the house, but I knew she would be talking to the other Realtor.
It turns out they really liked the property and house, but had wanted a larger pond for fishing. Our pond is small and not really good for fishing. It is a man made pond and helps with water run off. They haven't ruled us out yet, and are checking on how much it costs to have a larger pond dug. I have no idea, but I do know that a lot of people here in Georgia dig ponds. We just happen to have a very large pasture that would be a perfect place for a pond and very picturesque as well! So we haven't ruled them out.
The Realtor called earlier this afternoon and there is another showing scheduled for Friday morning! Good....we don't have too much time to get the place dirty again and the grass can't grow much in two days! Keep em coming while we're clean!
I have to go and start mowing the pasture. It's due for it's monthly mowing and my "chariot" is ready. Al does about everything he can do to encourage me to mow, so it brings it out and parks it in the shade for me, (just in case :)
Al is working on cleaning the sheds. They weren't involved in the major cleaning yesterday and could use some work. Our garage sales have really helped get rid of a lot of stuff. Having 2 home showing is motivating us!
Wish us luck again!
Our 1st Home Showing
Al and I have always known that we work better under pressure. We proved it again when we had to about kill ourselves getting the house ready for it’s first showing.
It’s not that we haven’t been working, but we just hadn’t gotten it all pulled together. We actually listed the house before it was ready, thinking here in this rural area with the bad housing market, buyers would be scarce. Well, I can tell you, we got it pulled together very quickly when we got “the call.”
On Monday night about 9 pm we were preparing to start watching season 3 of Dexter, when the phone rang. I jumped up to get the phone and jokingly, said, “it’s probably Lorraine” (our Realtor) Well it was! There was another Realtor that wanted to bring someone by on Tuesday at noon. NOON? You’ve got to be kidding? I asked if they could do it later in the day, but since it was getting late, we would know nothing until the next morning. So we had to prepare for a showing at noon.
This one phone call made me start to think. We could be homeless in a month and have nowhere to go. Are we ready for this next step in our lives?
Are we sure we want to do this? How will we manage with the cats? How will we get rid of all this stuff? Well of course those were only brief thoughts….I didn’t have time to contemplate them any further.
Fortunately, I had a long nap Monday afternoon and wasn’t tired, but Al didn’t get much of a nap and was tired from not sleeping the night before.
Let me tell you a brief story about why Al didn’t get much sleep the night before.
I’ve learned through the years that when Al is overly tired, he gets extremely grumpy. When he gets like that everything offends him and he thinks I’m picking on him. I try to ride it out until he gets rested up. He came back from his trip to Tampa extremely tired. He works really hard while he’s there so that he can get home sooner, (so that I can pick on him?) Sunday night we had a little argument and Al decided I needed to be “punished.”
I know some men who punish their wives by beating them, or by leaving home or something like that. Well how Al punishes me is …… he sleeps on the couch!
Okay, picture Karen in the middle of her big old king sized bed stretched out all nice and comfortable, while Al (the punisher) is sleeping on the couch with no blanket or pillows! I thought about covering him up and giving him a pillow but decided to let him suffer! He had been being such a grouch, I was not very happy with him at that point!
Well despite Al being very tired, we did get the house ready for it’s first showing. We were able to change the showing until 4 pm, so we had more time and we needed every bit of it.
When they arrived at 4pm, we left the house, but stayed on the property. Our property is large and hard to figure out exactly where the boundary lines are, so we told them if they wanted us to, we would be glad to show them around outside once they looked inside. They were interested enough to want to know exactly where our property is and I took the male half of the couple on a tour on the golf cart. He is an older man, maybe in his 70’s. Al was wondering why someone that age would be looking for such a big property because it’s really a lot of work. Anyway, they didn’t say much, about whether or not they liked the place, but did ask some questions. After the tour, they stood outside and talked to their Realtor at least 20 minutes. We took that as a good sign. The man told me that he had 2 properties up for sale, one on a lake and another in the country he was worried about selling. I don’t know if that means he had to sell them before he bought anything else or not.
We hadn’t heard anything back from our Realtor last night, so I’ll send her an email this morning to see if she had heard from the other Realtor.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Holy Crap - They're Coming!
In theory, when you have your house up for sale, you are supposed to keep your home spotless in the event someone wants to come an look at it. That sounds like a good plan, huh?
Unfortunately, that's not the case here and......the Realtor just called and another Realtor wants to show the house tomorrow between 12 and 1pm.
Fortunately, we have been working outside and it's pretty much all mowed and neat.
I called our Realtor to see if she could delay the showing until later in the day. She is going to do her best, but we don't want to miss an opportunity to show the house.
So what am I doing now? Posting the blog when I should be cleaning! Gotta go now! It's a good thing I took a long nap today!
Wish us luck! We're going to be in for a long night!
Football Glitch
Al had been looking forward to watching the Tampa Bay Bucs on tv yesterday. We don't always get them here in Georgia, so he was excited! He Tivo'd the game and was planning to watch it later when he could zip past all the commercials. He's decided he enjoys the games much more if he can just watch them without all the delays. He has his own "instant replay."
Unfortunately something happened and the tv went black. After doing a little research, we noticed our tiny black kitty had been laying on a remote control and may have pushed a button. We never could figure out what happened and finally had to reset the Tivo box to get it going again. Of course Al missed some of the game! All was well though as the Bucs won their 2nd game of the year.
We finally got brave yesterday and went into "the" room. It's the room where we have boxes of china (3 sets) crystal (boxes and boxes), silver goblets (2 sets) and a lot of other stuff. We have some really good quality Noritake and Sango china that we need to sell, but we weren't even sure how many place settings we had of it. We opened one box and did a count. Now I just need to photograph it and see if I can unload it on Craig's List.
I am really at a loss on how to sell this stuff. I don't know if I want to mess with eBay because of the hassle shipping and I'm not sure anyone would pay anything anyway. I did a little eBay research and found a lot of china, but nothing appeared to be selling and no one was even bidding.
I had a little childrens tea set that I used as a little girl. My parents bought it for me when we lived in Japan. I wondered if it might have some value. I checked on ebay and found a few other sets similar and no bids. I decided to give it a try with no reserve price to see what happens. At least I know it's nothing particularly valuable. If it doesn't sell on eBay, I'll take it to the garage sale and get what I can. I have fond memories of that little tea set, but just can't see keeping it. If some cute little girl comes to the garage sale, I might just give it to her.
We spent the afternoon mowing. Al did some trim work on the little mower and I worked on the rider. No snakes were seen, thank goodness! A lot of the people around here are offended if anyone mows on a Sunday. It's okay to kill on a Sunday though and since hunting season has started, they are doing a lot of it. I figure God would prefer I mow over killing innocent little animals! It's Dove hunting season. Give me a break. A Dove? How much meat could they have?
Our plan today it to do some more sorting and take a load or two over to the storage shed. I plan to start bringing Christmas decorations and see if I can get rid of some of that stuff. Also, I am going to start bringing more clothes, because I am selling some of them. Al reminded me that we have a few storage tubs of winter clothing in the garage! Crap! Just when I was starting to think I was making progress!
Unfortunately something happened and the tv went black. After doing a little research, we noticed our tiny black kitty had been laying on a remote control and may have pushed a button. We never could figure out what happened and finally had to reset the Tivo box to get it going again. Of course Al missed some of the game! All was well though as the Bucs won their 2nd game of the year.
We finally got brave yesterday and went into "the" room. It's the room where we have boxes of china (3 sets) crystal (boxes and boxes), silver goblets (2 sets) and a lot of other stuff. We have some really good quality Noritake and Sango china that we need to sell, but we weren't even sure how many place settings we had of it. We opened one box and did a count. Now I just need to photograph it and see if I can unload it on Craig's List.
I am really at a loss on how to sell this stuff. I don't know if I want to mess with eBay because of the hassle shipping and I'm not sure anyone would pay anything anyway. I did a little eBay research and found a lot of china, but nothing appeared to be selling and no one was even bidding.
I had a little childrens tea set that I used as a little girl. My parents bought it for me when we lived in Japan. I wondered if it might have some value. I checked on ebay and found a few other sets similar and no bids. I decided to give it a try with no reserve price to see what happens. At least I know it's nothing particularly valuable. If it doesn't sell on eBay, I'll take it to the garage sale and get what I can. I have fond memories of that little tea set, but just can't see keeping it. If some cute little girl comes to the garage sale, I might just give it to her.
We spent the afternoon mowing. Al did some trim work on the little mower and I worked on the rider. No snakes were seen, thank goodness! A lot of the people around here are offended if anyone mows on a Sunday. It's okay to kill on a Sunday though and since hunting season has started, they are doing a lot of it. I figure God would prefer I mow over killing innocent little animals! It's Dove hunting season. Give me a break. A Dove? How much meat could they have?
Our plan today it to do some more sorting and take a load or two over to the storage shed. I plan to start bringing Christmas decorations and see if I can get rid of some of that stuff. Also, I am going to start bringing more clothes, because I am selling some of them. Al reminded me that we have a few storage tubs of winter clothing in the garage! Crap! Just when I was starting to think I was making progress!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Luxury Motor Resorts – Naples, Florida
I happened to click on an advertisement yesterday and found a wonderful place to spend the winter. Check out Pelican Lakes Rv Resort. It is in Naples, Florida, on the south Gulf coast of Florida. It’s a beautiful area.
If you like the place, you can purchase a lot. They have quite a few lots for sale, but you’d better hurry because they’re selling fast.
Here is the one Al and I’ve picked out.
Or maybe this one?
Here is the listing for my personal favorite.
Can you see the price? Yes, you read it right. It is $549,000! No, that does NOT include the motor home!
Here you can see how spacious the lots are, even after you’ve parked your Mercedes and coach.
It really is a beautiful resort and Naples is a very beautiful part of Florida, but it is definitely an area for the rich. Naples is on the Gulf Coast, right across the Peninsula is the Palm Beach area. Both are known to be the home of the rich and famous.
If you haven’t yet been to Palm Beach, it’s a must see when in Florida. It’s a barrier island, and not to be confused with West Palm Beach. There are many, many multi-million dollar mansions which are just used as vacation homes. Al and I couldn’t even afford what they spend on their gardeners! You find homes belonging to the very, very rich. One time we were there King Hussein of Jordon was remodeling his mansion. Of course that is also where Donald Trump has his luxury Mar-a-Lago Resort, which was the former home of Marjorie Merriweather-Post. You might also run into Rush Limbaugh while there.
If you get over to Palm Beach, bring your bicycles and you can ride around the (lake) on a beautiful bicycle trail which is behind the mansions on the inter-coastal waterway, which is the “lake.” We used to rollerblade there and it was a wonderful way to get some exercise and get a peek at the way the rich and famous live. You may run into some celebrities too! Say hello to The Donald for me! While on the island, head over to Worth Avenue for a little shopping. Have you ever seen a $800 straw hat? We did! Now the reason it was so expensive was because it had Fringe! No, the fringe was not made of gold, just regular run of the mill straw hat fringe! Another fun thing to do on the Island is take a boat tour. The boats run on the inter-coastal side (lake) and you can see the mansions from the water with a guide telling you who lives where. We loved visiting Palm Beach.
There are no campgrounds of any sort on Palm Beach, but you could stay at the The Breakers Hotel.
Gotta, go now and check my lottery tickets because we only made $76 on our garage sale yesterday….of course we closed up shop at 10:30.
If you like the place, you can purchase a lot. They have quite a few lots for sale, but you’d better hurry because they’re selling fast.
Here is the one Al and I’ve picked out.
%5B2%5D.jpg "download (1)")
Or maybe this one?
%5B2%5D.jpg "download (2)")
Here is the listing for my personal favorite.
%5B11%5D.jpg "download (3)")
Can you see the price? Yes, you read it right. It is $549,000! No, that does NOT include the motor home!
Here you can see how spacious the lots are, even after you’ve parked your Mercedes and coach.
%5B2%5D.jpg "download (4)")
It really is a beautiful resort and Naples is a very beautiful part of Florida, but it is definitely an area for the rich. Naples is on the Gulf Coast, right across the Peninsula is the Palm Beach area. Both are known to be the home of the rich and famous.
If you haven’t yet been to Palm Beach, it’s a must see when in Florida. It’s a barrier island, and not to be confused with West Palm Beach. There are many, many multi-million dollar mansions which are just used as vacation homes. Al and I couldn’t even afford what they spend on their gardeners! You find homes belonging to the very, very rich. One time we were there King Hussein of Jordon was remodeling his mansion. Of course that is also where Donald Trump has his luxury Mar-a-Lago Resort, which was the former home of Marjorie Merriweather-Post. You might also run into Rush Limbaugh while there.
If you get over to Palm Beach, bring your bicycles and you can ride around the (lake) on a beautiful bicycle trail which is behind the mansions on the inter-coastal waterway, which is the “lake.” We used to rollerblade there and it was a wonderful way to get some exercise and get a peek at the way the rich and famous live. You may run into some celebrities too! Say hello to The Donald for me! While on the island, head over to Worth Avenue for a little shopping. Have you ever seen a $800 straw hat? We did! Now the reason it was so expensive was because it had Fringe! No, the fringe was not made of gold, just regular run of the mill straw hat fringe! Another fun thing to do on the Island is take a boat tour. The boats run on the inter-coastal side (lake) and you can see the mansions from the water with a guide telling you who lives where. We loved visiting Palm Beach.
There are no campgrounds of any sort on Palm Beach, but you could stay at the The Breakers Hotel.
Gotta, go now and check my lottery tickets because we only made $76 on our garage sale yesterday….of course we closed up shop at 10:30.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Health Insurance
I read Margie's blog post yesterday regarding the cost of health insurance. They will now be paying $1093 a month for insurance for the two of them, with a $5000 deductible. Unfortunately, I don't think the new health care bill is going to help, in fact Margie was told her increase in premium was because of the new health care bill. I think many people are just now finding out what this new bill is going to mean to our pocketbooks. There are some 20 states fighting the bill as unconstitutional, so we'll have to see how that plays out. I certainly agree that something needs to be done, however I just don't trust our government to do it right.
Al and I have been lucky (so far) with our health insurance. We've had very minimal increases, if any but with the new laws coming into play, I'm expecting some changes. I retired from USAA Insurance, and we have very good retiree health care coverage. They are self insured, so I don't know how much affect the new law will have. We are due for our annual sign up next month, so I guess we will find out then. I'm worried!
Al is planning to head back home from Tampa today. I sure have missed him. He's expecting a home made pizza tonight, so I guess I'll have to have one ready when he gets home.
Tomorrow is another garage sale day. I have been gathering more stuff to take to the sale, but I think I need to really get busy and get more junk out! We're not selling anything that will help to make the house look nice to a potential buyer. The furniture will stay until we sell it, as well as pictures, knick knacks, and accessories.
We've collected things over the years that we thought may be worth some money some day. The newspaper from the two Shuttle explosions, some 1950's Miami newspapers, original pictures of the moon walk, some albums and 45's, coins, guns, etc. I'm finding most of that stuff isn't really worth much, at least not now while the economy is so bad. I have checked on eBay and found some newspapers selling from when Roosevelt was president and no one was buying. I guess my Shuttle Explosion papers really aren't going to sell, however, I still find myself wanting to keep them and some of the other stuff as well.
This week-end after the garage sale, we're going to have to work on the lawn. It's been growing even though we are in a drought. I hate to cut it when it's so dry, the mower just blows all the dust at me and it doesn't look nice when you cut brown grass.
Wish us luck at our garage sale tomorrow!
Al and I have been lucky (so far) with our health insurance. We've had very minimal increases, if any but with the new laws coming into play, I'm expecting some changes. I retired from USAA Insurance, and we have very good retiree health care coverage. They are self insured, so I don't know how much affect the new law will have. We are due for our annual sign up next month, so I guess we will find out then. I'm worried!
Al is planning to head back home from Tampa today. I sure have missed him. He's expecting a home made pizza tonight, so I guess I'll have to have one ready when he gets home.
Tomorrow is another garage sale day. I have been gathering more stuff to take to the sale, but I think I need to really get busy and get more junk out! We're not selling anything that will help to make the house look nice to a potential buyer. The furniture will stay until we sell it, as well as pictures, knick knacks, and accessories.
We've collected things over the years that we thought may be worth some money some day. The newspaper from the two Shuttle explosions, some 1950's Miami newspapers, original pictures of the moon walk, some albums and 45's, coins, guns, etc. I'm finding most of that stuff isn't really worth much, at least not now while the economy is so bad. I have checked on eBay and found some newspapers selling from when Roosevelt was president and no one was buying. I guess my Shuttle Explosion papers really aren't going to sell, however, I still find myself wanting to keep them and some of the other stuff as well.
This week-end after the garage sale, we're going to have to work on the lawn. It's been growing even though we are in a drought. I hate to cut it when it's so dry, the mower just blows all the dust at me and it doesn't look nice when you cut brown grass.
Wish us luck at our garage sale tomorrow!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Library Card
Al got his new Florida Library Card! Yea!
He had one when we lived there, but lost it and the old number no longer worked. We figured we were out of luck since we are now Georgia residents. I wanted one because Georgia doesn't have any e-books in the library system of the entire state! I could not believe that! There are definitely some good things about Florida and all the tourist revenue definitely helps to fund things.
Anyway, we recently heard if you own property in Florida you were eligible for a library card. Since we still own a house there, we qualify. He took a copy of the newest tax bill and got his brand spanking new Florida library card, complete with a cheat sheet on how to download e-books!
So now we'll be able to read free e-books! I really like my new e-reader but I'm sure not going to pay 8 to 15 dollars for a book. The library is fine for me.
So I think I'll go check out our new library and maybe spend some time on the front porch watching birds and reading with a glass of wine!
He had one when we lived there, but lost it and the old number no longer worked. We figured we were out of luck since we are now Georgia residents. I wanted one because Georgia doesn't have any e-books in the library system of the entire state! I could not believe that! There are definitely some good things about Florida and all the tourist revenue definitely helps to fund things.
Anyway, we recently heard if you own property in Florida you were eligible for a library card. Since we still own a house there, we qualify. He took a copy of the newest tax bill and got his brand spanking new Florida library card, complete with a cheat sheet on how to download e-books!
So now we'll be able to read free e-books! I really like my new e-reader but I'm sure not going to pay 8 to 15 dollars for a book. The library is fine for me.
So I think I'll go check out our new library and maybe spend some time on the front porch watching birds and reading with a glass of wine!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Mini Day Trips
Instead of working, I have been daydreaming about our upcoming trip to Welaka, Florida.
I found a little book that Al had picked up years ago. It's called Mini Day Trips. It's for the North East portion of Florida, which is exactly where we will be. Even though we lived 30 years in Florida, this was one part we never got to much and we are really looking forward to it.
I've been trying to get Carol, my friend from Arkansas, to come visit us while we're at Welaka. Her husband Mike is a motorcycle fanatic. Carol, not so much :) They just got back from a trip to Sturgis, SD for the motorcycle rally. He'd been trying to talk her into going for several years and she always got out of it. This year she was out of excuses, so she went, and had a good time, I might add.
It occurred to me that February was the time for Bike Week in Daytona, so I confirmed the dates and did a MapQuest to see how far Welaka is from Daytona Beach. It's less than 60 miles, so it's about perfect.
I sent an e-mail to Mike to let him know, and I know that will fire him up! He's wanted to come to Daytona and any excuse to do anything related to motorcycles, he will use! Carol, on the other hand....will kill me :)
One of me and Al's favorite things to do, other than scuba, kayaking, camping, is just to get in the car and explore. Even if it's someplace we've been, there are always new things to see, new roses to smell, new pictures to take, and new scenery to admire.
I remembered that around Daytona you can drive your car right on the beach, so that will be something fun to do that we've never done. No way could you do that on the Gulf Coast.
There are even Panama Canal style locks up in Palatka, so that should be something new and interesting to see. Of course Manatees are all over in the warm spring waters and Blue Springs State Park has one of the biggest concentrations. We've been there before, but we'll definitely go back,.
There are many great kayaking places and one place we will definitely not go kayaking is Juniper Springs. We went there once several years ago and it was a tough paddle. There were lots of trees you had to navigate around and under, twisty curvy and fast flowing waters. Man eating alligators and that's the place Al and the gator had the run in! Here is the link that I posted about it a while back. It was a beautiful trip, but way too much work. You couldn't relax and taking pictures was nearly impossible. We will probably hit the Silver River in Ocala as it's one of our favorite paddle trips.
Now that I've daydreamed a while, it's time to get to work. Tonight is a big night...the new Survivor starts! It's one of our favorite shows. I should wait and watch it with Al when he gets back Friday....but I won't :)
I found a little book that Al had picked up years ago. It's called Mini Day Trips. It's for the North East portion of Florida, which is exactly where we will be. Even though we lived 30 years in Florida, this was one part we never got to much and we are really looking forward to it.
I've been trying to get Carol, my friend from Arkansas, to come visit us while we're at Welaka. Her husband Mike is a motorcycle fanatic. Carol, not so much :) They just got back from a trip to Sturgis, SD for the motorcycle rally. He'd been trying to talk her into going for several years and she always got out of it. This year she was out of excuses, so she went, and had a good time, I might add.
It occurred to me that February was the time for Bike Week in Daytona, so I confirmed the dates and did a MapQuest to see how far Welaka is from Daytona Beach. It's less than 60 miles, so it's about perfect.
I sent an e-mail to Mike to let him know, and I know that will fire him up! He's wanted to come to Daytona and any excuse to do anything related to motorcycles, he will use! Carol, on the other hand....will kill me :)
One of me and Al's favorite things to do, other than scuba, kayaking, camping, is just to get in the car and explore. Even if it's someplace we've been, there are always new things to see, new roses to smell, new pictures to take, and new scenery to admire.
I remembered that around Daytona you can drive your car right on the beach, so that will be something fun to do that we've never done. No way could you do that on the Gulf Coast.
There are even Panama Canal style locks up in Palatka, so that should be something new and interesting to see. Of course Manatees are all over in the warm spring waters and Blue Springs State Park has one of the biggest concentrations. We've been there before, but we'll definitely go back,.
There are many great kayaking places and one place we will definitely not go kayaking is Juniper Springs. We went there once several years ago and it was a tough paddle. There were lots of trees you had to navigate around and under, twisty curvy and fast flowing waters. Man eating alligators and that's the place Al and the gator had the run in! Here is the link that I posted about it a while back. It was a beautiful trip, but way too much work. You couldn't relax and taking pictures was nearly impossible. We will probably hit the Silver River in Ocala as it's one of our favorite paddle trips.
Now that I've daydreamed a while, it's time to get to work. Tonight is a big night...the new Survivor starts! It's one of our favorite shows. I should wait and watch it with Al when he gets back Friday....but I won't :)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Chores
We spent Sunday hanging around the house. Al finished up the project by the mailbox. We still will try to find a few cold resistant plants to put there, but for now it's fine.
Out hot weather has come back with high humidity. It's been 98 or so every day and no rain for weeks.
We decided to clean the motor home up a little. We had something fall from a Pecan tree onto the roof and stained it and yucky brown stuff was running under the awning and down the side. Al cleaned the roof a week or so ago, but we hadn't opened the awning to clean it. Evidently whatever had been up there was trapped and still leaving a mess. We opened the slides, and the awning. We cleaned it good, trimmed a few tree branches and left it to dry. While we were at it we exercised the generator too. We will probably have to take down the Pecan tree (pronounced PEE-can, here in Georgia).
Anyway, we had the awning out to dry. The sky was blue, no clouds or prediction of rain. Then a few clouds appeared. Then out of nowhere the bottom fell out and it rained and blew hard! No thunder or lightning, just rain. Of course we had the golf cart out and loaded with stuff that isn't supposed to get wet, Al's truck bed, was loaded with stuff to take to Tampa and it was getting wet. The garage and shed were open and the awning out and blowing in the wind! We got into the golf cart and flew up the hill to the motor home. We got the awning in without any damage, but of course it was soaking wet. I went inside and closed the slides. We have had some leak problems. We're hoping they are resolved, but I'm not brave enough to test it :) I stayed inside for a few minutes and noticed the window by the dining room was leaking water into the track and spilling out. We try to keep the little slits on the outside of the windows clean, but I felt that may be the problem. Rain was over flowing the track even with me mopping it up. The wind was blowing sideways and blowing rain horizontally against the side of the motor home. I ended up opening the window and screen, sticking my head out (and getting soaked) and cleaning the little slits with a tooth pick. It seemed to help
We got everything put away and it quit raining in a few minutes and the sky turned blue. It was the strangest rain. We got half an inch in just a very few minutes. We needed it badly, but I'm afraid most of the rain didn't soak in.
Monday, Al headed to Tampa (v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n) Remember that song? He kids me that when he goes to Tampa for work, it's like a vacation to get away from here!
Al spend the afternoon driving to Tampa and I spent the day wasting time. I did end up working on Al's laptop trying to get it to work right. You turn it on and it sounds like it's running constantly even when I haven't opened up any programs. I pull up the task manager and it shows nothing running, but I constantly hear something in the background. Trying to do anything is so slow it will drive you to drink. I do have too much on the hard drive and have been taking some of the photos off and deleting them to free up some space. I tried to defrag, but was told I don't have enough space to properly do it. I think I am finally making some progress, but it shut off on me. I think it was getting overheated. Any suggestions Rick?
Today I need to do some cleaning. You never know when someone is going to want to come and see the house. It just better not happen until Al gets back in town though!
Out hot weather has come back with high humidity. It's been 98 or so every day and no rain for weeks.
We decided to clean the motor home up a little. We had something fall from a Pecan tree onto the roof and stained it and yucky brown stuff was running under the awning and down the side. Al cleaned the roof a week or so ago, but we hadn't opened the awning to clean it. Evidently whatever had been up there was trapped and still leaving a mess. We opened the slides, and the awning. We cleaned it good, trimmed a few tree branches and left it to dry. While we were at it we exercised the generator too. We will probably have to take down the Pecan tree (pronounced PEE-can, here in Georgia).
Anyway, we had the awning out to dry. The sky was blue, no clouds or prediction of rain. Then a few clouds appeared. Then out of nowhere the bottom fell out and it rained and blew hard! No thunder or lightning, just rain. Of course we had the golf cart out and loaded with stuff that isn't supposed to get wet, Al's truck bed, was loaded with stuff to take to Tampa and it was getting wet. The garage and shed were open and the awning out and blowing in the wind! We got into the golf cart and flew up the hill to the motor home. We got the awning in without any damage, but of course it was soaking wet. I went inside and closed the slides. We have had some leak problems. We're hoping they are resolved, but I'm not brave enough to test it :) I stayed inside for a few minutes and noticed the window by the dining room was leaking water into the track and spilling out. We try to keep the little slits on the outside of the windows clean, but I felt that may be the problem. Rain was over flowing the track even with me mopping it up. The wind was blowing sideways and blowing rain horizontally against the side of the motor home. I ended up opening the window and screen, sticking my head out (and getting soaked) and cleaning the little slits with a tooth pick. It seemed to help
We got everything put away and it quit raining in a few minutes and the sky turned blue. It was the strangest rain. We got half an inch in just a very few minutes. We needed it badly, but I'm afraid most of the rain didn't soak in.
Monday, Al headed to Tampa (v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n) Remember that song? He kids me that when he goes to Tampa for work, it's like a vacation to get away from here!
Al spend the afternoon driving to Tampa and I spent the day wasting time. I did end up working on Al's laptop trying to get it to work right. You turn it on and it sounds like it's running constantly even when I haven't opened up any programs. I pull up the task manager and it shows nothing running, but I constantly hear something in the background. Trying to do anything is so slow it will drive you to drink. I do have too much on the hard drive and have been taking some of the photos off and deleting them to free up some space. I tried to defrag, but was told I don't have enough space to properly do it. I think I am finally making some progress, but it shut off on me. I think it was getting overheated. Any suggestions Rick?
Today I need to do some cleaning. You never know when someone is going to want to come and see the house. It just better not happen until Al gets back in town though!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Another Garage Sale
Yesterday, we had our 4th garage sale. We did okay, got rid of some stuff and made about $170. We started at 8am and left at 11am. It was hot and humid and by 11am we were hot, tired and thirsty. We closed up shop and headed to Zaxby's for an ice cold lemonade.
We found out a little more about the garage sale rules. Al finally decided to just call city hall and get the facts. You are allowed 2 garage sales per year. I understand they don't want people making a living by having garage sales all the time, but two a year. Come on! If you want to have more than the two per year, you need to get an occupational license for $50. Or you can go have it at the little "flea market" building in town and pay them for a booth rental ($14) We don't want to do that because we'd have to pick up and move our stuff each week. With our storage shed, we just close the door and go. Much easier. We may look into getting the commercial license. Or we may just wait and see if we have any problems with the city and then look into getting the license. It may be worth it if we can put more signs out and also advertise in the newspaper without fear of getting a citation.
It got up to 98 degrees today and it was just too hot to do anything outside so we hung around inside, took a nap and watched tv. This evening Al got the new batteries installed into our electric bikes. He took a test run and his bike runs fine. Unfortunately, he pulled a "Karen" and fell down while trying to get off the bike. I can't tell you how many times I've done that. When we first started riding bikes again, I fell twice and cracked a rib. What they say about never forgetting how to ride a bike, is wrong! There are no good bike trails nearby, but we are anxious to take them for a ride...once the temperature cools down. We like the fact that we can peddle when we want, and use the "gas" if we get tired. It's nice when you come to a hill to get a little help! We really did ride more with these bikes and actually got some exercise. You can build up your endurance easily with that little extra boost you get. We'll definitely take them with us in December when we head south.
We found out a little more about the garage sale rules. Al finally decided to just call city hall and get the facts. You are allowed 2 garage sales per year. I understand they don't want people making a living by having garage sales all the time, but two a year. Come on! If you want to have more than the two per year, you need to get an occupational license for $50. Or you can go have it at the little "flea market" building in town and pay them for a booth rental ($14) We don't want to do that because we'd have to pick up and move our stuff each week. With our storage shed, we just close the door and go. Much easier. We may look into getting the commercial license. Or we may just wait and see if we have any problems with the city and then look into getting the license. It may be worth it if we can put more signs out and also advertise in the newspaper without fear of getting a citation.
It got up to 98 degrees today and it was just too hot to do anything outside so we hung around inside, took a nap and watched tv. This evening Al got the new batteries installed into our electric bikes. He took a test run and his bike runs fine. Unfortunately, he pulled a "Karen" and fell down while trying to get off the bike. I can't tell you how many times I've done that. When we first started riding bikes again, I fell twice and cracked a rib. What they say about never forgetting how to ride a bike, is wrong! There are no good bike trails nearby, but we are anxious to take them for a ride...once the temperature cools down. We like the fact that we can peddle when we want, and use the "gas" if we get tired. It's nice when you come to a hill to get a little help! We really did ride more with these bikes and actually got some exercise. You can build up your endurance easily with that little extra boost you get. We'll definitely take them with us in December when we head south.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
May We Never Forget
None of us will ever forget that horrible September day when everything changed. We should also remember the feelings of unity that all Americans felt with our country and each other. Do you remember all the American flags that were flying everywhere? Despite the horror that day, it did help to unite us all together against a common enemy. What happened to that?
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