gvincent Posted March 3, 2007 Share Posted March 3, 2007 If you can swing it a lot of people I know stay in New England 9-10 months a year and fly south for the winter. I myself can't afford to do that yet with kids approaching college, so I do get antsy for warmer weather about this time of year but have to wait another month and a half maybe. I have debated this for years as well and now I am thinking where I want to go when I retire, I want warm but not too hot, near an ocean, and not flat, I need hills and windy roads too, some beautiful scenery and maybe toss in some lakes for boating () Oh and did I mention affordable?? Does such a place exist? At one time the Cental coast of CA was affordable, not anymore(( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted March 3, 2007 Share Posted March 3, 2007 Well, it hasn't technically been received yet, but she defended her thesis yesterday and gathered all of the signatures she needs, now she just mails off the paperwork and waits for the diploma in the mail. This masters degree in Nutritional Science was supposed to take 2 1/2 years, or so I was told 4 1/2 years ago, but as with all of her education she did work her way through; I'm sure a full time student would have been faster. Her thesis had to do with homemade tube feedings for kids with gastrostomy tubes (feeding tubes that go straight into the stomach). It wasn't pro or con, just looking at the issue of HMTF and what affect making the tube feedings themselves has on the families, vs just using one of the formulas commonly available like Pediasure. Her review board said it was one of the best theses they had ever reviewed. Anyway, I couldn't be more proud. Mrs. Mortensen is now Melissa Mortensen MS, RD, CSP. Congrats Jon... Tell her good job, and her search for a suitable candidate to replace you will go far! Just kiddin' man! Good on Ya both! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 3, 2007 Author Share Posted March 3, 2007 Actually she corrected me on the title. It's technically Melissa Mortensen, BS, MS, RD, CD, CSP. I forgot the BS and the clinical dietitian. Wow. As for replacing me, we're coming up on our 10th wedding anniversary in April, but we've actually been together since I was 17 and she was 16. I'm 32 and she's 30 now. Let's just say we work well together... Besides, at this point I could probably get some palimony out of the deal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxjoeyxxeb Posted March 4, 2007 Share Posted March 4, 2007 Hey, I go to Poly in SLO. Next time you're around we can meet up and grab lunch. Maybe get some of the local Zers to hang around Gary's shop. http://www.gridesinc.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 Life is weird. After looking and looking and looking we found 2 houses in one day. One has a GIGANTIC yard and deck nice paved RV parking, a small ~200 sq foot outbuilding which is too nice to be a shed but not finished like a house (ad calls it a "studio"), really nice living room and kitchen, small bedrooms, and a very deep 2 car garage with a sink. It backs up to a protected habitat area. The other has NO yard except a small patch of grass that's maybe 400 square feet, but has a 3 car garage AND a huge shop with a big compressor and an industrial heater and swamp cooler. And a mezzanine. And it's own bathroom. And a sink. And the air is plumbed all over the shop. This one backs up to a busy street. The one with the shop also has the better layout for me to run my business from home. I'm going to push hard for that one. I don't think I can really make a mistake here. I really think the big yard house is more resaleable, but damn, that shop is just too good to be true... AND it has a 3 car garage!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrSideways Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Small yard equals more time in big shop...... Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Busy street may be good for business, but the constant noise gets old. It's possible that your wife may never be happy there; can't garden, no yard in which to relax, you ignored me when we bought this place... Also not a great place for a family, if that is in the future. You can always build a shop. <> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 Busy street may be good for business, but the constant noise gets old. It's possible that your wife may never be happy there; can't garden, no yard in which to relax, you ignored me when we bought this place... Also not a great place for a family, if that is in the future. You can always build a shop. Both houses are near busy streets, but both have double paned glass and are well insulated once inside. The one just will never ever have neighbors behind, which is nice. The wife likes the shop house A LOT. She just likes the yard house with kids in mind. I'm trying to think of this as A house, not THE house. We're not going to die here. I figure we'll probably move again in another 5-7 years to a place I'd actually like to live. Maybe NM next time or something like that. So building a shop at this house is kind of hard to figure on, because we're looking at the top of our price range, which was extended since the beginning of this thread, but still, if we're at the top coming up with enough cash to build a shop is questionable in the short term... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Check local zoning to make sure you can what you want to do in the shop. One pissed off neighbor can shut down your business. That was one of the reasons I moved Betamotorsports out of my garage and into a shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoeightythreez Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 Cmon, we need more Z's here in Allentown. It's within 90 miles of NYC, 60mi. of Philly, 2 hrs from OCMD and a bit more to VA beach, Housing is still decent (but went up a lot) but 300K can buy a lot of house here. We just landed a new AAA affilaite for the phillies and our crime rate is low (compared to Oakland) It's full of winding mountain roads, the area has a very rich history (in fact America was bascially built starting here), and diverse population. The only real drawbacks is that it gets cold in winter and hot in summer but spring and fall are the most beautiful months of the year. (WInter and summer are the price you pay to see such colorful autums and springs) There are major racetracks within 30 miles and the only bad thing I can think of is that the roads SUCK. (they're bumpy, too small, and congested, but that's mostly 22. If you're used to CA traffic it won't be a problem.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
het976 Posted March 9, 2007 Share Posted March 9, 2007 I moved back the the Portland area from Colorado. I loved it there. I was in Fort Collins, which is almost always in some poll of the 10 best places...to golf, raise a family, retire...you name it. It is a college town with very low crime...one hour to Denver. It does not get too hot in the summer, which lasts 6 months...but so does winter...it is not that bad. I golfed and rode my Harley every month. It can be 70 in January. It can also be -20...but it is a dry cold...Seriously, I have been much colder here at 35f and raining then -10f in Colorado. Average home price is around $260K. Great schools and city parks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 9, 2007 Author Share Posted March 9, 2007 Check local zoning to make sure you can what you want to do in the shop. One pissed off neighbor can shut down your business. That was one of the reasons I moved Betamotorsports out of my garage and into a shop. It's actually dual zoned and the shop could be a commercial venture. That's not my intention, but it is zoned that way. We went back and looked today, and my wife actually said "I think you like the one with the shop, so I think we should put in an offer." Pretty cool of her. I'm just not 100% yet. No yard bugs me. It's close to the 99 which is the SoCal equivalent of I don't know, being close to Sepulveda Blvd or something like that. Wide 4 lane blvd with lots of crap around. Near to my current house the 99 is littered with signs that say "Don't pull over and get a hooker, we're recording your license plate number" and stuff like that. There is a big building kinda caddy corner that has a bunch of loading bays for semi-trucks. I went over there and asked what they do there and they manufacture pull tabs, which are sorta like lottery scratchers that you buy in bars. They said they get 8-9 trucks in a day. We also talked about converting one of the 3 bays in the lower garage to an office space. It would be easy to do and would make a huge office, plus that part of the garage has access from the driveway and the back yard. The other one just has so much more yard, and so much better living areas inside the house (living room and dining room have better layouts), but doesn't have a good spot for me to do my business and doesn't have a shop. It's only about 3/4 mile from the house with the shop but its a lot more residential, even though you can still hear the 99 pretty good... still mulling it over. I need to make a decision fast, properties we've looked at have been getting snapped up really quickly... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 12, 2007 Author Share Posted March 12, 2007 We made an offer on the house with the huge yard, and it was rejected. So then we made plans with our agent to revisit the house with the huge shop, and in the meantime another house popped up on the market. This one was in a much different spot and is actually out of town in the woods, but as it works out the commute for my wife is roughly the same as the first two places. We put in an offer and it was accepted! It's technically Snohomish, but for those in the area it's about 10 minutes East of the 405 on the 522. I'd call it East Bothell or North Woodinville. Anyway its a damn cool house on 1 acre with a 2 car attached garage AND a 2 car detached and heated garage. The detached garage is plumbed for air but the PO has already removed his compressor. It's a VERY large garage and I'm really going to enjoy the extra space. I'm going to take some time to really get it ready before we move, adding shelves and workbenches and leaving space for a full size drill press, my 12 ton press, bandsaw, welder and other crap. I'm pretty stoked. It's a much better option than either of the other houses and the price was within $12K of the others. Escrow closes 4/25. Can't wait! Now the issue is getting the Z over there. I'll have to get the suspension cobbled together enough to put it on a trailer (which I'll need to buy). The suspension won't be a problem, but the real question is how long is my backordered tubing bender going to take to show, and will I be able to finish the cage and paint the underside and inside before moving it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TeamNissan Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Jon, If you haven't already try to work a home-owners warranty into the contract for the first year. I fought for that on this place and have used it twice - would have used it a third but he PO said the washer-dryer had a 3 year warranty so it was covered. Washer cratered, warranty was 1 year and now the PO is paying for the repair. At least he is honorable if not as smart as he should be. Also be sure you get the house inspected. It's amazing what those guys can find. Most contracts assume that the buyer will do that. My Po ended up spending about $6K to fix things that weren't right on this place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 Inspection is Thursday, and I'll be there going through the whole house with the inspector. I'm going to get a buddy of mine with a forestry degree to go up and look at all the trees on the property too. I know there has been mention of a homeowner warranty. I was kinda figuring on not buying that. I guess I'll have to see what the cost is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt K Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 Don't move to Albuquerque...it sucks here (damn Air Force...)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G.I.jonas Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 no Bangor, ME What do you mean no bangor,maine is ok...right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JIM73240Z Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 john, i have had american home shield for a couple of my houses. i think it was 5-600 a year. little foggy. i have slept sence i have had it. brain dump every night around 2 am. anyway, on a older house, say 10-20 years old or older, it can save you a ton of money if anything were to go wrong. it can cover everthing in the house. your old washer and dryer, dishwasher, garbage disposal, ac or swamp or heater, ect. it can come in handy when you want a new "garbage disposal" and want to replace it but have no money to do so and you "accidently" throw severla pounds of stuff in it to kill the motor. call them up and i think i paid $20 for a tech to come out and fix or replace. on my current house, the paid for a new ac unit. not cheap for them but $20 for me. once everthing is new i would probably get rid of it. good job on the new (for you) house. exciting and stressful at the same time. jimbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A. G. Olphart Posted March 13, 2007 Share Posted March 13, 2007 This place sounds great! Since you will be building benches from scratch: One of the handier features I've seen under a bench was a set of shelves/trays on really heavy duty full extension glides. They were framed on all sides in angle iron (actually bed rails:D ) with 3/4" bottoms. Handy for heads, manifolds and other stuff a guy would rather not be tripping over. <> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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