When we set up an office in NYC, I had one of the most horrific experiences of my life while trying to catch the train. I spoke to a guy who was commuting 4 hrs - 6 hrs each way. Couldn’t believe it. Asked him why and he said he couldn’t afford anything closer. Geeze! I thought a 1 - 2 hr commute was bad enough.
Broke my heart to move from my beloved San Joaquin Valley, and Sierra Nevada mountains in California to Texas. Had to move when I retired in 2019 because it's Kalifornia. Will NEVER be a Texan, always will be an exiled Californian. And I would rather take a beating with a claw hammer than move again!
Hello, Since my wife and I lived in a dinky apartment when we first got married, we have moved to 4 houses in 58 years. The apartment for 4 years, the first house for 5 years, then a single story house and big yard for our son. We stayed there for 25 years as it was a perfect house and yard for our growing toddler to active son through college. After he got into college, we moved to a huge 3000 sq. ft. house as we thought he was going to move back in after graduation and my wife’s dad needed a place to stay, too.. So, 3 of the 5 bedrooms would be used if everyone moved in place. It even had a three car garage. But, they did not move in and the two of us did not use each room daily as the whole house was too big for the two of us. Hide and seek could have great results in that large for us, house. The three car garage was outstanding for cabinets and space. A perfect hot rod single car garage was separate. We stayed there two years since no one was going to use the other rooms. Then when the time was right, we found our last home, a small 2000 sq. ft. house and moved everything in place. Everything fit perfectly and we only needed one couch and a new bed. So, over the years, this last place is perfect. Quiet, private and low maintenance. What more could a couple of old folks want? Besides, this last house was the “growing up portion” of our granddaughter’s daily life from 6 months to almost high school. That is historic for us…and her. Jnaki When any of the moving day or packing days came about, it was great. The old memories did pile up after 25 years. But, even after two years, there were great memories of us bouncing around like a ball in an empty game room, until we sold it to buy our last small house. Sometimes it was a little sad as each box had memories. Even the individual dishes and breakable stuff had memories of family gatherings and birthday parties. So, as we stuffed in the bubble wrap, we talked about the idea of the old house as a stepping stone to the next house. Dinky apartment, to new modern house for two 20-30 somethings together, then a new/old (built in 1963) family house for 25 years left a lot of memories. But, each one was fine when we left it, as our new adventure starts when we walked into the new purchase. When we looked at the last house, we were ready to purchase it before we drove over to view it on an open house. We had a check in hand and if it was as good as we expected, instant purchase with a large sum on the check. There were 3 couples walking around the last house. When we saw the house and yard, it fit us perfectly. The check could not come out fast enough and the other three couples were slack jawed at the view of the check in the hands of the real estate agent. Two of us could grow old here… and we did/are, with 20 years of a cool granddaughter thrown in the mix after birth to college days… so, it is/was the perfect place for us. YRMV Note: Your new house is in a different state and a better one at that. But, there are plenty of spaces with the similar “Texas feel” dry scrub brush areas plus the woods. So, hopefully, you are in the woods. We drove a couple of times through Colorado on our cross country road trips and visited a friend in a small town settled next to a great looking lake. For us, a perfect lake for sailing… if we could adapt to the shifting winds that sweep across the hidden parts of the coves.
If you look at a map of money spent on education, the farther south you go the less they spend. That's a fact. Wether spending more money makes for a better education is a different discussion.
Thanks Steve - it has been a pleasure working with you on the roadster and its been fun hanging with you and Mindy a a few car events here in NZ - heres to alot more of that!
MOVING NEVER AGAIN I moved about 12 years ago only 5 miles from one town to another. It took one moving van 3 pickup trucks one trailer and 5 friends one of the most stress full moves I ever made Tom
Some very good points. Five moves here in around 50 years, so yeah I know the story. Have been working now toward downsizing at some point. Lightening the load - cutting down on physical possessions - is an uplifting feeling and I've been actively doing that for about the last year or so: swap meets, garage sales, curbsiding a lot of household stuff with a lot more to come. A move is a good excuse to purge. And that, as many of you including @Ryan and @Jeff Norwell have discovered, is a good thing. Keep your eye on the prize, guys, you'll get there!
The Jalopy Journal
