Gentlemen, (and Ladies) it's been a genuine kick in the pants!

[JN4OldSchool]

Well, you folks wont be seeing too much of me in the next few months. Oh, I will still be popping in a couple times a day though, unlike SOME of our glorious leaders do when THEY move But for the next couple months I will be packing up, throwing away or selling off twenty years of accumulated junk! Yep, I am moving! Oh, I am not going on some Pee-Wee's big adventure like Dan did, no Paris TX or Cowdung OK for me, not yet anyway.

Nope, just moving 30 miles down the road into Leesburg. I am just done. Stick a fork in me, I am so shut of this property. I am sick of the dirt road, the constant mowing on twenty acres, all the other involved maintenance, my modular home (I am using the term "home" loosely) is starting to need a serious infusion of cash and I am simply too old to do it myself and too poor to get it done. The country life is great, but it has its drawbacks. I mean, people in 2WD's get stuck in my driveway all the time. It is OK if you know where to drive and dont stop at the top of the hill, but will UPS come down here? Not on your life. You do NOT know how much that sucks till you live it a few years! I cant even get a pizza delivered. It takes twenty minutes just to get to a convenience store never mind Wally*world. Satellite internet? Oh man, dont get me started on that one again!!! Heh heh, I am getting high speed cable!!! I am just sick of being tied down to this anchor.

So we just rented a cookie cutter house in a decent cookie cutter subdivision. A nice ball field within walking distance, less than five minutes to the mall, a deputy sheriff across the street, the house is on an outside corner of the subdivision and it backs up on a huge drainage swill that will allow me to fly electric RC in my backyard and a nature preserve behind that which will stay wooded. The best part? Until you own a home you just cannot understand this, but the best part is we are doing a single year lease and the owner is looking to rent longterm. Which means that year by year, if we decide to just pick up and go (we really want to move to Lynchburg VA in 2-3 years) we go. No worries about hurricanes, blown water heaters, overflowing septic tanks, or broken appliances. Did I mention cable internet

So I am not out of the woods on this property yet. The housing market is down and we have to tote the note till it sells. But we have a decent savings, we, thanks mainly to my wife, are finally making decent money and we do have serious equity in this property. I have a lot of things to sell off. We just got two new Toyotas, a Prius for the wife and a base 4WD Tundra for me, but I want to get rid of the Durango, the bike, the bug, the tractor...So much accumulated junk to go through...And I am still taking classes on top of all this...But, it will all come together. I am more excited than I have been for years. Part of me is praying this is not a huge mistake but then I walk around this twenty acres, a property I was once in love with, and all I see is work. A huge money pit that just keeps getting hungrier. Yep, it will be a long two months...

[Gnafu the Great]

Congratulations! I'll be prayin' for ya . Have fun .

Hi JN4,

Good luck with the move!

Wayne

[Dan]

Man! to soooo much of that I can only say, "Damn straight!"

You will miss the quiet. You will miss being able to just step out into the tree line when you've had too much coffee, you'll miss the magnificent critters staring back at you when you look out the kitchen window ... but that's about it. Without a doubt, home ownership, especially on the end of a dirt road, is highly over-rated!

I can offer the following advice:

1) Whatever size dumpster you are planning ... double it!

2) Blue haired little old ladies at garage sales are predatory meat eaters. Watch 'em like a hawk!

3) Some days you will end up going nowhere but down memory lane. Shake it off and use a Case 580! Otherwise nothing will get done.

4) Keep a laptop where you can get at it.

5) Ween yourself off onto restaurant food and take out early in the game. It adds motivation.

6) If you need a 26 foot box on a corn binder 5 speed diesel ... I just happen to know where to find one ... real cheap! <...>


Stay in touch Sean! And if you need anything. Just holler. <....>


Dan

[rerushg]

Oh yeah. Moving is such a joy. Especially with dirt roads and mud.
I just moved myself and two kids to a quite small home in town a couple of years ago and love it. It's a bit tight but I'm a "cockpit type" anyway. Probably comes from sailing and cruising small sailboats. Just give me a good chair and everything near-by and I'm good to go. Kids can pretty much walk wherever they've gotta go. Not a bad deal.

As for the pizza? Dang. I've got a 4WD Cherokee. Ya' shoulda said something.....

Good luck.

[ppesci]

No delivered Pizza?????. That's not legal l!!!. Talk with your congress man.

Good Luck man.

[schwim]

Hi there JN4,

Although your desire to go from the woods to the city befuddles and even causes a nervous twitch in my right eye when contemplating it, I wish you all the best. The cable internet alone should make it worth while.

I will keep everyone in line until you can return, and send you weekly updates via carrier pigeon concerning who's done what to whom. Also, if you'd like, I'll send you pics of my satellite dish if you ever get to taking your cable for granted.

thanks,
json

[Dan]

Originally Posted by schwim

Hi there JN4,

Although your desire to go from the woods to the city befuddles and even causes a nervous twitch in my right eye when contemplating it, ...

Spoken like a man with youth colored hair, and who doesn't have arthritis yet.

It was a glorious experience, which I would never trade for anything, but all in all, rural home-ownership reminds me of the infamous saying about boat owners. "The two happiest days of his life are the day he buys it ... and then the day he sells it!"

Which is not to say I don't miss it. <....>

But time refuses to stand still, life changes, needs change, and ... eventually ... desires do too.

Ah, but memories ...

*Looks over at the Ginko bottle*

Well, I guess maybe they do too.


Dan

[schwim]

Blasphemy! Ted Kazinsky had bad knees and he excelled in a remote environment!

Ok, maybe a poor example.

In fact, I'm going to need to work on any potential analogies that I might be able to come up with. I'll be back when I do.

thanks,
json

[w5set]

Well, outside of sneezing/hacking up 1 1/2 lungs with all the ragweed/grass/yellowbloom pollen in the air outside in the boonies where I live right now---and the left side of the 375 ft long driveway washing out in every heavy rain---it's really great here.
Just shy of 59th b-day here and still going on working and working and working and ....etc...etc
on this little place I bought way out (22 miles) from any serious type civilization.
Although it's just 11 miles from a real good Pizza joint.

So JN4--good luck in the move--have a nice time with the really close neighbors....
Actually I hope ya make it well there--all joking aside. But it's gonna be harder to do then ya think....
Having neighbors who can look through your windows 24/7 ain't all the time what it's cracked up to be.

[JN4OldSchool]

heh heh, thanks guys, especially Schwim and w5set for making me doubt myself

I just wrote a literal 2 mile long post telling my whole life story and all my future plans, sheesh, I am more nervous about this than I thought. Suffice to say it is the right move. I feel the things you guys mention, I have always been a worker and I have enjoyed living here. But...all the things Dan said apply too. It is just something we need to do, kind of a jumping off place for the rest of our lives.

BTW, dont think you will be rid of me that easily. Unlike Dan, I am not "on the road." Our rent doesnt even start till the 15th, they have to finish the place up, it wasnt even listed yet when we snatched it. Then we will probably just move slowly, over a couple months, one truck load at a time. I got much to do around here before I can put it up on the market. Just going to be busy for a while, but I will still be around.

[Seve]

Hello JN4:

Good luck with the move and I'll bet you never knew how much stuff you have collected over the years until now

Seve

[b_martinez]

Yep, everything Seve said.
Hope you've got neighbors like mine. Friendly, down-to-earth types that don't put their noses in others business.
Good Luck and enjoy that cable internet.
Bill

[krafty1]

Hi JN4,
Hope it all goes well for you.

Goodluck with the Move an Cleanup JN an hopefully by the time you get back fedora 9 will be under Development