That title got your attention, didn't it? :) Take it easy, calm down - it's not for us.
My parents are 84 and 74 with all the health issues that come with those ages. Their 7 acre farm, which is a good ten miles from most conveniences, is just too much to handle.
They had found a house a few months back that they fell in love with. Twice they made offers on that house only for it to fall through because the folks buying their farm couldn't get financing.
Since they have a new offer on the farm (contingent upon the sale of the buyers' house) and the house they love was still on the market, Linda and I put our heads together to come up with the funds to get them in that house immediately. We didn't want to take a chance on losing a perfect house for them again by having to wait for the sale of the farm to close.
So, my folks' offer was accepted (at a lower price than their prior offers - wink) and we will close next week with possession. Now we can help them get their new home ready, help them through the emotional aspects and memories of 39 years on the farm, and help them move at their leisure while we are here. We can also oversee the closing and handle all the coordination of the move.
It makes us feel a lot better to be here through this big transition, and it will make for less worry for us as we continue our travels. We will replenish our funds when the sale of the farm closes in a couple of months. We just feel so fortunate to be able to do this.
We have absolutely no intention of buying a house for us as far as into the future as we can see! We have waaaaay too good a life to even think about settling down anywhere. :)
Other than wheeling and dealing to make the house thing happen, we ran the generator for a couple hours in the morning while Linda had coffee and I did the Journal entry.
Linda helped Mom out around the house while I returned lots of emails in between scheduling various appointments for us and my parents. We got a lot of "doing" done. :)
We ended the day with an hour of generator time before bed. Only running the generator when necessary puts a real crimp in TIVOing. :)
Life On Wheels Tidbits Of The Day
From our time spent in technical and maintenance courses, here are a few things we learned.
"It probably isn't broke."
"It's always the batteries." :)
"Always diagnose before trying to fix"(while the offending part is still attached where it is supposed to be).
"Check electrical connections and wires first."
"Most repairs requiring a technician are caused by owners trying to fix stuff."
The bottom line is that most RVs have pretty sophisticated systems requiring simple periodic maintenance. But "over maintaining" outside of manufacturer recommendations can cause as much harm as neglect.
I don't think "over maintaining" was ever going to be a problem for me, but at least we now are not afraid of our systems. We still have a lot to learn, but we have more confidence that we can diagnose a problem, fix minor issues, and not make anything worse. :)
Look for a couple more tidbits each day. Until tomorrow. :)
That was a great on you and Linda's part buying a home for your parents but "indeed" you scared the wits out of me with
your headliner!!!...:) Another sale here at our home this wkend getting rid of "stuff" for fulltiming.
Keep those tidbits coming.
Posted by: Judy | Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 12:52 PM
Hi Howard and Linda
Nice thing you did for your folks,you only get one mom&dad,so you look out for them as best you can. Iwas glad all went well at LOW,I really enjoy following along every day with your journal.I plan on starting our website late summer,as we prepare to go full-time in 07. Stay Safe Jim
Posted by: Jim Montgomery | Thursday, May 18, 2006 at 09:18 PM