{"id":4742,"date":"2017-03-04T10:33:01","date_gmt":"2017-03-04T17:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/?p=4742"},"modified":"2017-03-04T12:46:13","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T19:46:13","slug":"small-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/small-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Small Things"},"content":{"rendered":"

During these quiet days of transition between not-quite-winter and not-quite-spring, smaller elements make up the bulk of our daily activities. Here is a run-down on a few small happenings in our life this past week.<\/p>\n

Work: I am still without an assistant. The one guy who made it past the in-person and group interview (oral boards) washed out in the background check. The search continues but I don’t have high hopes of finding a qualified candidate anytime soon.<\/p>\n

House: The front door lockset decided to quit on us and would no longer keep the door closed. (The plunger that goes between the door and the door frame quit working.) This required a replacement lockset be installed, not a big deal at about $35.00 with extra keys, but we had to prop the door closed with a rock (wrapped in an old towel) for a day until I could buy and install a new lockset. Four keys are required; one for each of us, one as a hidden spare in case we lock ourselves out, and one for the neighbor\u00a0who takes care of the\u00a0dogs (lets them out for exercise) when we are both at work.<\/p>\n

Pam has taken to\u00a0buying a few fresh flowers and putting them in our main bathroom, which keeps them out of the way of the cats and dogs. The\u00a0bouquet\u00a0has a great aroma and reminds her that spring is just around the corner.<\/p>\n

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Bathroom bouquet<\/p><\/div>\n

House Hunt: Not much new. We haven’t\u00a0visited a property in several weeks and not much on the market is appealing. The search continues. FYI: The total fixer-upper Pam identified in Cascade (mentioned\u00a0last post) has an offer on it, probably by some\u00a0Colorado Springs “flipper” who can afford the renovation. \u00a0(Whew – dodged a bullet\u00a0there. Pam had that look in her eye on the Cascade property.)<\/p>\n

Recreation: I have been out with my ATV riding locally in Wild Horse Mesa. The roads have dried out quite a bit in recent weeks so are no longer\u00a0just muddy trails.<\/p>\n

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ATV ride, Feb. 25 in Wild Horse Mesa<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s good to be able to get outside for a few hours; weather for the next few days indicates below freezing at night but into the\u00a040s and 50s during the day. Tulip leaves are popping up near our fence line and grass is beginning to green out so spring will be here shortly, I\u00a0hope! We did have snow during the week, enough to justify getting out the John Deere lawn tractor and using the snow blade\u00a0to clear the driveway and sidewalks;\u00a0I\u00a0expect more snow yet before spring truly arrives, not time to take off the snow blade just yet.<\/p>\n

On a sad note, a co-worker who had the office across from me and with whom I had worked for the last 3+ years died suddenly\u00a0Monday of a heart attack. He was 67 and his wife had just retired on February 9th. Ken was a good friend\u00a0and I will miss him around the workplace. Reflecting on\u00a0Ken’s passing has strengthened my resolve to retire and not work until I\u00a0die. Not sure how that is going to be managed\u00a0just yet!<\/p>\n

Not all creatures are feeling any stress, though:<\/p>\n

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Bru relaxes (totally) on the couch<\/p><\/div>\n

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!<\/p>\n

Pam’s Five\u00a0Cents Worth:<\/p>\n

Must be getting closer to spring in this backwater – the whiff of fresh skunk is on the air of a morning. M-mm-mm.<\/p>\n

Regarding retirement, I am pondering Plan B, since Plan A (Colorado retirement house) in now 1.5 years along and not going anywhere. \u00a0If you know me at all, you\u00a0know I am all about Plan B (and C, D, E\u00a0…\u00a0if needed).<\/p>\n

Plan B – If Fields and I use\u00a0the [considerable] down payment we have saved and apply it toward\u00a0a few things (like paying off the Sanderling property, refinancing\u00a0the De Beque house, replacing\u00a0the aging Honda), our monthly payments would be reduced\u00a0to a point where\u00a0I could probably semi-retire within a year. \u00a0Yes! Very attractive. But then we would be trapped into staying in the De Beque property into retirement. \u00a0No! Not attractive.<\/p>\n

Plan C – We have discussed on-and-off the viability of finding a winter retirement spot in Oregon. \u00a0The winters are milder there, and I have a desire to be able to travel to the ocean occasionally. \u00a0Felicity has mentioned wanting to buy a tiny house in Oregon – but – is having difficulty finding a\u00a0place to park it (near public transportation). This plan could possibly address both needs. \u00a0(Oregon, by the way, is pretty much the tiny house manufacturing center on the planet.)<\/p>\n

Such is my dilemma. \u00a0Of the options presenting themselves, which way to go? Stay tuned.<\/p>\n

Happy Trails.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During these quiet days of transition between not-quite-winter and not-quite-spring, smaller elements make up the bulk of our daily activities. Here is a run-down on a few small happenings in our life this past week. Work: I am still without an assistant. The one guy who made it past the in-person and group interview (oral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4742"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4770,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4742\/revisions\/4770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.appleattic.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}