Would you believe…

I apologize for the break in the action (no recent post) which was due, in part, to a self-induced computer failure.

I ran a disk clean-up utility twice; the first time everything went OK but the second time I did not let the utility finish and, as a result, my Mac would not boot. I was able to start up in Utility mode and restore the disk from a back up system but the last full backup was from late January. I lost a few photos and documents that had been created since then, including updates to my blog pages. No great loss but it could have been prevented had my impatience not gotten the best of me. I downloaded my complete web site from the hosting service and now have all those files on my Mac. I plan to run another full backup tonight!

Picking up the thread of conversation from my last post…we finally viewed the insides of a few houses on our retirement house search. Alas, my favorite, the Trading Post, received an offer the day we looked at the house. Before we were done with our day the current owners had accepted the offer. That rules us out and, considering the price, it would have been a long shot anyway. Here are just a couple photos I during the viewing:

Trading Post kitchen – Professional AGA stove

Approach to Trading Post

Moving on, we visited a few other places (all in Montrose) Pam had identified as in-town “potentials.” One was tenant-occupied and represented a low-priced option that would need renovation, a path we have considered. Nope – not impressed with this one.

Renovation House – Not a Keeper

A third place we were scheduled to look at, one of the nicer places in town, canceled due to family members coming down with the flu.

Our final visit was a place still undergoing renovation. While very cute, it was also very small and had steep steps to get to the upstairs bedrooms. (But, we met the renovation team, good people to know if future renovations present themselves.) We then drove by a couple of properties; one was a center-of-the lot small house that we eliminated right away (no outdoor parking/storage), and the other was not available for visiting that day until after 5:00 pm (as the family was still moving out). We opted not to stay in town that long.

We are finally working with a realtor — she really seems to know her stuff. Since our visit she has sent us a few other listings (including bank-owned and for sale by owner). Tomorrow we plan a drive-by trip to view an area suggested by this realtor, still close to town and with slightly larger lots.

While house hunting has been a positive occupation recently, there have been other developments that are downright depressing. My high school best friend died of a heart attack last week. Just a year older than me, Ed and I spent a lot of time together in our high school days. Later he joined the military and I went off to college and we didn’t keep up very well after that. Still, the news was not welcome.

Pam’s life-long best friend from grade school/high school [now living in Florida] received some bad news…cancer was detected on a vein going from the stomach to the pancreas. There will be an attempt to shrink the tumor by means of chemo and radiation, then surgery to remove the remaining bits. We fervently hope this approach is successful.

Pam’s mother developed cancer when Mom was 63 (she died 16 months later) so this development hits Pam pretty hard. It reminds us, once again, that while we get caught up in things being important, people and relationships are more important over the long haul. And, also, don’t put off everything for the future, none of us can predict how many days each of us has to live life to the fullest.

Finally, tomorrow is Easter so I will close with this Easter electronic card:

Easter 2016

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Apologies in advance to Tabitha for the dark turn in our thoughts (again).  Fields and I are of an age where death seems to have started “lurking.”  Cancer, in particular, propels the person with the diagnosis, and those who care deeply for that person, into a nightmare world of doctor speak and percentages. (But heck, just look at the news feed, even the “rockers” from the 60s and 70s are dropping like flies.)

Regarding the ongoing retirement search, I feel we are starting to qualify specific areas for house viewings. The down payment monies increase monthly. A realtor is on board. The “home stretch” may be in sight.

Happy Trails.