Road Trips 2012 & Real Estate

[Gene]

We've been wrapped up in remodeling, maintaining the old house and all the vagaries of life. It's been time to cut firewood (I used to do it in the summer, but every year I get deeper into fall. All the easy to get wood has been got, so I have to go deeper into the forest. Fortunately, a friend cuts deep fall every year, but doesn't have a wood stove, so I get part of the wood. That has been ll cut, so now I have to go searching.

The market for the Crawford house is terrible the past few months. Friends with similarly priced houses are not hearing from anyone. The craziness in Congress and the fact that mortgage rates have gone up about 1.5% since last winter have hurt the market. It is getting to be time to rewrite the listings.

We're moving along on the remodeling project. The unfinished room now has been painted and ceiling molding installed on 2/3 of it. The window is trimmed. I've finished about 45% of the aspen paneling (sand smooth, 3 coats of polyurethane) so it goes up fast. 98% of the ceiling is done—gotta wait for the paneling and that part of the ceiling molding to be installed first. The sink and built-in cabinet have been removed—the sink will go to a resale store, the cabinets are now installed in the garage. That provides a workbench and storage for RV supplies and other stuff. The cabinets were screwed and bolted to the wall (4" screws, 3 6" lag bolts) to prevent the house from b;lowing away when we get a hurricane in western Colorado. Amateurs characteristically install too many screws and nails—glad I've gotten past that stage to be merely incompetent. Lighting is done and 1/3 of the tile is down. The doorway to the hallway has been exposed—it has been framed and then covered with drywall in case they ever wanted to put a door in that side of the room. The problem is that it wasn't framed properly—only one stud on the hinge side, so I have to strengthen it somehow. We ordered a French door for that opening.

We were looking at tile in various stores. We found really nice tile, but it was expensive for an exercise/sewing room, so when we walked into Lowe's, we saw glazed porcelain at about $1.30/foot—half the price of the really nice tile. That's cheap and it was good enough. It is kinda dark, but we'll use darker grout to make it looked lighter. Since it has a glaze, it'll reflect some light. And we'll make a diamond design in the middle with some left over tiles from another project long ago.

So, the order of things, more of less, is finish laying tile, wait for mortar to dry a few days, grout, wait to dry, remove doors to workshop and installed a 2 pair of folding doors (takes less space), finish rest of paneling, install work sink and tile around it with left over tile from this house, do baseboards and trim around paneling, install French door, build closet (taking space from a really big workshop) with shelves from upstairs, place to hang clothes and door into shop. I might make another closet on the workshop side since it would be easy to do with 3 walls already. This should be done in far longer time than I want it. After this room is finished, the small main floor hallway needs beadboard wainscotting, new doors and might be a good thing to do next. The shelves for that closet come from the hallway from kitchen to garage—that will be turned into a mudroom with bench, hooks for coats, shelves and places for dirty boots and shoes.

But that could tie me down for a while and I should do the bedroom first. Once we have all our furniture there, it will be much harder to remodel. The "great room" would come next, but even when fully furnitured, it won't be as hard to work in.

And that deck—after looking all over town, I found a diamond drill bit (1 3/8" diameter) that matches a standard sink drain tailpiece—so I drilled through the deck in one of the valleys that has developed, sealed with a supersealant, and installed one drain so far. About a week ago, I discovered h ow the wind blows—it snowed maybe 4-5" and double that piled onto the deck where it can melt and seep through the deck. Do I put up some snow fence? Ugly. Put up a barrier on one side of the deck to deflect the wind? Ugly and difficult. Cut a hole in the wall around the deck to let the wind and snow blow through? Might be easier, though not so legal. And I have to finish the polycarbonate that is over the window wells with handles, hooks to attach them and a support along the wall to hold one side up. Pushing up against winter on outside projects and trying to concentrate on finishing a room fast—winter is winning, so I have to juggle it all.

We now have a post office box in Grand Junction—they don't deliver mail and charge us for a box in the city because they expect to drive a dozen mile 'round trip to a post office in the wrong direction where we can have a free box. I will try to get this changed—first a letter to the US senator who is running for re-election next year. Slowly moving things to the new house—mail, phone numbers, etc.

So, there isn't much time for the Forum. I don't look at new threads very much and just follow the ones I have been for a while. I must be a month behind on TinCrumpet's thread and there must be a bazillion posts I haven't read.

Gene

[Gene]

And some photos—

1. Our trailer safely parked between the garage and a sandstone bench.

2. Mostly finished end of room.

3. Cabinets installed in garage and already getting filled with RV gear.

[Lily&Me]

Nice work, Gene!

You have been a busy boy, and it looks lovely.

Hang in there, and drop in here when you can.

You may be gone, but are not forgotten.


Maggie

[Gene]

Thanks Maggie. I'm not quite gone, just reoriented. I'd love to sell the old house and get on the road and post stories of our adventures, but not yet.

I also have been struggling with our Verizon data plan. Despite all sorts of promises we wouldn't use that much data and have to pay extra, we were using more and more and still not playing games, downloading movies, watching u-tube and doing other dat eating things. We called them and they said not to leave windows open all the time because they kept communicating and using data. We tried that and data use is way down.

But one result is the Forum isn't open all the time and thus, I do not check it all day, or maybe not for days. The bigger problem is internet in this country is very expensive and not very fast. We are falling further and further behind the rest of the world in this and many other things. The Verizon system works for us in other ways—mobility is important to us, but otherwise it is constraining.

Gene

[ROBERT CROSS]

Gene,

Welcome......

Catch UB on the tube yesterday? Pretty good Season, nice to see 'em on Nat TV.

Bob

[Gene]

Bob,

Yesterday was shopping for house stuff, seeing a not very good movie (2nd Hunger Games movie; 1st one was better), putting down tile. No time for football, which I never watch anyway because it bores me. I see the Sabres are the worst team in hockey—bummer. Between the drugging, obnoxious players, greedy owners and all the life shortening injuries in some sports, I've lost interest in professional sports (and college teams in the big time are professional too). Barb watches the Broncos and their quarterback who can't win when it is cold, so I just install more tile. I hope she doesn't beat me up when the Broncos lose.

Gene

[pmclemore]

Good thing she is not a Redskins fan.

Pat

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by pmclemore

Good thing she is not a Redskins fan.

Pat

.....or The Alabama Bleeding Tide.

Bob

[slowmover]

The bigger problem is internet in this country is very expensive and not very fast. We are falling further and further behind the rest of the world in this and many other things.

In so many things. It's not 1962 any more, not by a long shot.

Cut through your corner of Colorado just ahead of "winter storm Boreas" a week or so back. Forgot just how lovely it is. Had to stop at Cortez, CO, the port of entry, for a CO permit (we don't run there often enough to get the apportioned plate) on a run from Houston to Moab, UT. (Hematite . . man, I thought that barite was heavy, took three of us to pick up a 4" 10' hose less about 1/3-full to empty it out).

We've run a war in the Middle East for more than ten years now, have troops in 90% of African countries . . we can name the trivial (a fall storm), but not the expenditure of trillions of dollars in "war" which we will most bitterly regret as infrastructure (the future) falls further and further away from us.

A name provides more than a label. I fear it is to the point to ever name what is most important, any more.

Glad progress is tangible for the new house. Still crossing fingers on the old one.

Best.

.

[Gene]

Slowly moving ahead (but not a slowmover, that's someone else). The tile is down in about 90% of the room, but it is not a good thing for my back. I'm doing physical therapy for that, but the pain is pretty constant and I just have to keep doing back exercises and see how this works out. Between my knees and back, I realize just how fragile mobility can be.

We found a wall sconce for the great room that is perfect for a spot we had ignored—and it was cheap too! Also changing out switch plates for beautiful Art Deco ones on the main floor—they are expensive, but really make a room look good. Our approach is to spend a lot on a few things that make a big impact and look for ways to save a lot on other things.

Made a new arrangement for listing the house that hopefully will pay off. The broker who was listing houses for sale by owner is getting out of that business and so we had to work this out with someone else. Fortunately we get along well with some realtors and they will work with us. Otherwise, many realtors will not show a house being sold by the owner because it threatens their business model—with the internet, people are seeing houses they want and then they go to a realtor who refuses to show it. Like many businesses, realtors are trying to stop change. Many of the realtors are so protective of what they think is best for themselves (not their clients), they won't even show a house listed by a realtor in a different part of the county. You have to check it out yourself and then convince these people to do what you want. We know several others who are trying to sell houses in our price range and we compare notes and hope that people discover the North Fork Valley and Crawford.

Meanwhile, we are planning on a break to New Mexico in early February to keep us close to sane—Santa Fe (naturally) and maybe some Taos too.

'Mover, didn't know that storm last week had a name. We got 8-10 inches. Snow blows around the new house strangely and no one place gets the same amount as another. I'm sure glad we brought the snowblower because the driveway is steep. Going up and down the driveway in temps in the low 'teens made me think about a plow blade for the truck, but I know they are really expensive. Grand Junction is suffering inversions—been colder there than up high where we are—1.5˚ this morning here, but -4˚ down below.

Gene

[Lily&Me]

Mmmmmm.....Taos, NM.

Have a nice break and enjoy yourselves.


Maggie

[ROBERT CROSS]

Must be nice to have a 'Great' room....ours has a lot of white in it.

Stay healthy my friend..

Bob

[Gene]

You need a "great room" when you lead a band of warriors. A roaring fire, dancing girls, flagons of grog … just another wintry night in Colorado.

Gene

[Fly at Night]

Remodelling looks good, Gene.

I like the sound of the Art Deco switch plates.....and the roaring fire and grog.

Skol!

[Gene]

Here are some recent photos—

1. The Art Deco switch plates.

2. The tile is done, grout next (a bad photo I admit).

3. Sunset colors the snow covered Book Cliffs across the Grand Valley from us. Grand Junction is in the Valley. "Grand" comes from the Grand River, renamed by the state of Colorado as the "Colorado River" in the 1920's. It already was called the Colorado River south of where the Grand and Green Rivers combine in Utah in Canyonlands NP.

4. Part of emotion of moving is where your heart is—a Christmas tree (still minus tinsel) moves the heart closer to the new house. The white light near the top of the tree is a runaway flying locomotive that just missed the house.

Gene

[Lily&Me]

Very nice.


Maggie

[Gene]

This thread is still called 2012 and it is almost 2014. Someday I'll catch up.

After messing up my back tiling the floor, it has been good to get a rest over Christmas. I have had trouble standing or walking for more than 5 or 10 minutes. I read the MRI report and the medicalese sounds so dreadful, I'd think I was bedridden if I didn't know better. But I am moving and will see a pain doctor who specializes in back injuries. I've lived with chronic pain for 29 years from the original injury and have managed pretty well despite being 20% disabled (remodeling a couple of houses while working and traveling). Recently I found out one disc was gone and vertebra was resting on vertebra, thus pinching nerves. But the MRI indicates 2 discs gone. I can still remodel, but have to sit for a few minutes after about 5 or 10 minutes, then get back to work. Barb brings me things and picks up things I drop (the older I get the more things I drop—I think that's a warning of dementia), so she has been a great help. But the disc(s) wore out within the past year and the pain has increased greatly. This is a bummer.

I now understand how fragile our mobility is and how important it is. I intend to recover and I've come back against odds before. With all the other injuries I've managed to do to myself and parts wearing out, I should be in restraints to keep myself out of trouble, but I've never been very good at staying out of trouble. Barb has gotten somewhat used to this, although I know she is worried about me. She takes good care of me and has seen me recover from injuries and then drive to the other end of the continent. I don't know what I'd do without her. Since my mother had many medical problems and decided staying in bed for a couple of decades was the best choice, I have used that bad example to keep myself going.

The last few months have had 2 deaths. A long time friend from law school days died after surgery that was supposed to be nearly risk free. I didn't hear about it until 3 weeks afterward—he was in western New York and his wife couldn't find our phone number—so I didn't have time to drive there for the service. He was a special friend and I still can't quite believe it. Living a long time means surviving a lot of people—he was 6 years younger than me. I have even less reason to go the surgery route for my back.

The Friday before Christmas, a close friend's son was killed in a car crash. He liked to drive fast and wouldn't wear seat belts. The car rolled several times on a winding mountain road and he was thrown outand probably died as soon as he hit something. We left Barb's in-laws right after Christmas and drove to where the service was. The woman minister who led the service is another close friend and so we had a chance to spend the evening with her and process this as much as we could. The mother seemed to be handling it when we saw her, but when all the relatives have left and the flowers have wilted, she will be alone with her other son to grieve. She is a very strong person who has survived other family tragedies, but how much can one person take? Barb lost several family members a couple of years ago, now it is my turn to lose friends or friend's children.

My back doesn't seem so bad after all.

We'll be going back to the new house on Monday and friends from Denver will be our first overnight guests there. They'll sleep in the trailer. I might even let them have some heat. These are good friends who we always have great fun with and with whom we have spend many New Year's Eves, camping times and other visits. Maybe we'll manage to stay up past 10 MST (when it is midnight in NY, the new year has officially begun no matter where I am). I have no idea what there is to do on New Year's Eve in Grand Junction—maybe nothing.

The old house is relisted in a special arrangement with a local realtor, so we'll try this and see if it sells soon. While the old house is warm and cozy—we've made it ours over the years—it is time to move on, perhaps past due. I have to stay active for mental and physical health, but would like to replace driving back and forth and maintaining 2 houses with more trailer travel. We will go to Santa Fe in February for a break, but we couldn't find any place in Taos that sounded good—all too expensive for what you get. Much better deals in Santa Fe, especially in winter.

So the end is in sight for the basement room that has almost devoured me for the last several months. I'm looking forward to getting to work upstairs and not doing another tile floor. Much too much bending and twisting. Carpentry never looked so easy. I'll be glad to move into a new year. I hope it is simpler, but I'm sure it won't be boring. It probably won't be simple either. And I keep thinking about that return trip to Newfoundland—next year will be 10 years since we were there.

Gene

[Lily&Me]

Sorry for your injuries, Gene, and for the loss of those special people in your life.

Our health and well-being are, indeed, things we must not take for granted. Be grateful every day for what is going well.

May 2014 bring you pain relief, mobility.....and, dare I say....perhaps a sale on the house.


Maggie

[Gene]

Thanks for your kind words Maggie.

Gene

[Fly at Night]

Likewise, wishing you and yours the best in 2014.

Please stay healthy; your sage, often humorous musings on the forum are a delight!