Wow. Sorry about that. I am negligent by not providing timely posts. Nothing wrong here, we’re just having so much fun in our new home. Carole has unpacked and is spending several hours every day in her studio. I’ve been working to get my shop unpacked and organized to be productive. We need to have the walk-in pantry completed ASAP. I’m acting more my age (retired) by sleeping in and taking longer breaks (sometimes, all day). Still working hard helping friends; poured & finished a concrete slab on Tuesday (17th) and will do it again tomorrow (21st). Best time of my life.
With construction behind us, I think the blog should take a slightly different direction going forward. I’m considering a monthly posting frequency with a summary Carole’s studio and my shop.
Whoops ! So… I had so much non-stop fun during week 75, I didn’t give a thought to this blog until this time LAST week. Sorry about that.
Nothing special, just living (and loving) the retired life. Doing nothing at all, getting stuff done, socializing with friends, sleeping late in the morning, home repairs at dad’s house, bird watching, fun drives on the twisty Brown county roads, working on the house & shop, and so much more !
Week 76 was pretty much a repeat of week 75. Toward the end of each day, while sipping a Manhattan, I will make a plan for projects or tasks to be accomplished the following day. Sometimes I stick to the plan, but frequently abandon the plan and go in a completely different direction. Everyday is Saturday, and most of the planned activities on any given day; can wait another day or two… Grass needs to be mowed (since Friday). Maybe today is the day. Today’s picture is the shop, my fun place to be. Starting to get things moved into position, storage shelves are going up. Enjoy your day ! I certainly am.
2 months in the new house, and we are just giddy with the way this has turned out. I’ve said it many times – with GE moving us every 6-7 years, we had homes we loved and others not so much. When I came up with the floorplan for the house and shop, I incorporated all of the things we loved, and none of the things we disliked. Everything about the house and shop floorplan is just what we wanted.
I talked about this in late July; the stress of working 7 days a week after the drywall and interior paint was completed, along with the overall 15 month commitment it took to build this thing…. took a toll on me. For the past couple months, I’ve gone on “construction sabbatical” – taking it easy and enjoying retirement. I’ve done some simple tasks (toilet paper holders) lol. There have been days when I totally goofed off and didn’t accomplish a damn thing. Spent time washing a car or two, working on cars, helping friends in Bloomington with projects, sleeping in, etc. Hell, I’ve been getting real enjoyment simply sitting on the deck and bird watching.
Summer is retreating and Fall is near. I’m getting firewood cut and working to get the woodstove installation completed. This week’s picture is an example of my geekness – I cut a piece of cardboard into an 8″ circle, punched a small hole in the center, and placed it in the flue pipe up in the great room ceiling. A plumb-bob was utilized by hanging it from the center hole in the flue pipe round cardboard down to the woodstove. I monkeyed around moving the woodstove, until the round flue pipe exiting the stove was accurately centered / located to the pipe in the ceiling. Yes – I AM easily entertained !
We have broadband internet in our home on Howard Ridge ! So-SO nice to have access to the world wide web without having to travel. I visited the operating headquarters of the SouthCentral Indiana Rural Electric Membership Co-op (aka: SCI-REMC) on Tuesday morning. Explained our situation: request made June 1st, was told 3-4 weeks lead time. called back for status at the end of June, called again the week before we moved on July 12th, called again at the end of July, etc. At one point, I was addressing four employees who had been summoned to the lobby. I was friendly, spoke calmly, smiled, and asked a lot of difficult questions. Finally, one of them got on a computer behind the service counter in the lobby. She got our account activated and an installation appointment setup for Thursday. Note: I had a similar experience with SCI-REMC getting the main power to the house last Fall. In other news: the ice maker stopped working on our new refrigerator. Called customer service, and they said a technician would be out to see us within 5-7 business days. On the 7th day, they sent an email and said “parts were not available, would we accept a $500 concession”. My reply: uhhhhhh… NO. no thank you. not acceptable. If you can’t repair the fridge we have, then bring us another one and haul this one away. More to this story. and finally for this week’s summary of our adventures: this my second week of physical therapy to correct a “frozen shoulder” or…. adhesive capsulitis. I have a very sore right shoulder with limited range of movement. near constant pain. the shoulder started giving me trouble midway through construction. did what I could to limit right shoulder involvement, but using only my left arm was impractical. I thought I was in pain before physical threapy began, but this is torture ! They tell me my range of movement is improving – I think they are blowing smoke up my ass, but will continue for 5 more weeks.
I will start with the weather for this week’s post; but not for the same reason as last week. Week 71 was hotter than hell. So hot we had to turn on the A/C. This week ? the weather was simply marvelous, with low’s in the 50’s and high temps in the 70’s. I’m still on a sabbatical from home construction. With my tool cabinets in my garage again, spent this week working on my automobiles, and helping a good friend install a rollbar on his sports car. I also brought more garage related stuff from the storage unit. Currently shopping for steel shelves to be used to store and organize all of the BMW parts I’ve accumulated along with hardware for any occasion. Still waiting for internet service. Imagine not having access to the internet… (in the comfort of your home). We either drive a 1/2 mile to sit in Mike and Cindy’s driveway like cops on a stakeout and use their wi-fi, or take laptops with us when we have a trip to town planned and stop by to use dad’s wi-fi. No picture this week, sorry.
Crazy hot weather was the theme this week for us and most of the central USA. It was so hot, we had to close windows and turn on the air conditioning. The hot temperatures provided pleaseant memories of living in Kansas and Oklahoma. I am really getting comfortable with sleeping in, drinking coffee and bird watching to start each day. Not much progress on outdoor projects for obvious reasons. Got the first garage door opener installation completed. First time using Liftmaster 8500 door openers. A lot of nice features, a poorly written instruction manual, and a bit complicated to get working properly. The next 2 door openers should be go easier. Moved additional shop tools, materials and supplies from dad’s garage and the storage unit. Getting the shop organized is motivating me to get back in the business of finishing construction. Carole is continuing her effort to get the textile studio operational. Bottom line: the longer we live here, the better we like it.
Summary: Not much accomplished toward finishing touches on the house and shop. I installed the garage door opener switches, and moved more tools and materials from dad’s garage to mine. Spent time this week helping family and friends and working on my collection of cars and trucks. With all of our experience moving – seemed natural to volunteer helping with a move being made by Casey, our niece. Not a large household to relocate, and thankfully her new apartment was on the 2nd story and not the 3rd. I followed that physical day by pouring and placing concrete on Friday. Kermit (the guy who worked full time for me with excavation and foundation tasks on our project) recently broke ground on a house that will become his residence. In a casual conversation, told me he had ordered concrete to pour footers on Friday. Carefully chose my words and asked asked if he – wanted – any help. To say Kermit is a hard working dude is an under statement, and I knew he would tell me he didn’t need any help. He said if I wanted to help – he wouldn’t turn me away. It’s been 15 months since he and I poured the footers for our project. When we were done with Kermit’s footers, sitting under a shade tree, exhausted; I said we should consider having future concrete projects contracted by younger men. This week’s picture is the inside of my shop. Needless to say; still lots of household belongings to unpack. Now that I have 5 cars in the 5 parking spots, I am concentrating on the work shop area of my space for metal and wood working. Having the shop more functional, will make projects like the built-in pantry – easier to complete and more fun at the same time.
Summary: Having the time of our lives… We make it a point to sleep in every morning, unless a scheduled task or appointment requires getting up and around early. We’ve been able to avoid falling into that trap thus far. I’m not thrashing to get a lot done every day, but we are keeping busy and checking things off the list. I’ve spent more time the past couple weeks on car maintenance, which has been ignored since breaking ground in April 2022. Nothing more to report than that for the past week. I’ve included a picture of the back (west) side of the house to include the deck.
Summary: We accomplished additional home improvements, such as commissioning the central vacuum, more handles on laundry room cabinets, and other piddly projects. BUT most important – I am changing how we are going to complete this construction project. Sleeping in, followed by morning coffee, playing wordle, more coffee and light reading has become a favorite part of my daily routine. I have also put a higher priority on the activities I have always enjoyed, like vehicle maintenance. I haven’t washed a car in a couple years – and it shows. Spent a full day in the shop with the goal of creating a space designed to be my wood working shop and getting 5 BMW’s parked inside my portion of the shop. A sort of tetris game, moving and organizing the many yet-to be-opened moving boxes, making sure of adequate space for each automobile. The picture for this post is proof of that goal achieved. Spent several hours with Carole in her textile studio, doing the same thing – moving and organizing a large quantity of moving boxes filled with components of her sewing and quilting hobby. We were able to get plenty of space carved out and she assembled her quilting machine so she can begin working again, while slowly unpacking.
It took more than a week after moving in, for me to realize; after getting the building occupancy permit in July, I can back away from the full time effort required to reach the occupancy permit level of completion. After 15 months of full time construction; it is time to be retired and spend our precious time on the hobbies and activities that give us joy. I still enjoy remodeling/construction as a hobby, so the house and shop will be completed, but not at the expense of everything else. Living here is: as satisfying as we hoped it would be.
Another week of pure bliss, living in our new retirement home. Kept busy installing handles on kitchen door and drawers. Caulked around the shower door to complete that installation. Helped Carole start organizing her studio.
We were surprised on Wednesday, while Carole was showering – the water went off (at the shower head) She shutoff the water at the shower control and shouted for me. I got there to see water everythere. She told me what happened, so I told her to stand in the master closet (adjacent wall). When I turned on the shower, she could hear water running in the closet wall, and water coming out from under the wall. The plumber was out the next day. Found an uncrimped PEX fitting. Problem solved.
We completed our move from the leased home, fully cleaned and ready for new tenants. Shortened the legs on barstools we have owned (and moved) since 1990. Had a couple homes over the last 43 years, where they were the correct heighth. Lowered them 6 inches, and they are perfect for this home.
Met with our new insurance agent to iron out details in the quote she provided last week. Indiana Farm Bureau insurance, was…. lacking (pick a subject). The timing for the change is perfect (and was planned): just moved into our new home and vehicle license plates are due next week. Installed towel racks and a shower caddy in our bathroom. Elected to ease into retirement by sleeping in a bit, then reading while enjoying morning coffee – think this will become a permanent strategy for my mornings going forward.
Still waiting for internet service, which will aslo be used to stream all the content for TV watching. Had an epiphany and purchased an OTA antenna. Used our neighbors wi-fi to access Amazon. Antenna arrived the next day. Assembled it and put it outside on the deck, aiming the antenna in the general direction of Indianapolis. Boom ! 39 channels with an awesome hi-def picture. Now we have local networks for weather and news.
