Monday, May 27, 2019

Future House

I had a conversation with my 88 yr old mom.
We chatted about her possibility of getting a
driverless care in the next few years.
And then the dreaming began.
She is pretty on top of tech----

What else???

A care bot station.

I keep telling my grandson that this is the future.
He needs to be on the cutting edge.
There are about 78 million retiring in the next 10 years.
And a lot of us had two incomes.
We have some cash to be "at home".
They will not need care now- but they will in the future.
You don't want to be changing Nana?
Help come up with a robot that will.

A good docking system.

Come on. We have JUST figured out how to charge four things at once?
This group is LAZY!
We need good battery life and great docking
for our cars, robots and watches.

Multi screen Dots

I don't plan on traveling a long distance for simple doctor checks.
I hope to live in my new house for a very long time,
but I know what sent my grandmother and my mother
to a "good place".
They both had an incident that created an unsafe environment
because they were out of communication range.
That is just plan silly.

Solar Shingles and a great power bank

Again- what is going on with this generation?
It seems like Elon is working his brains out
and there is no one challenging him in this area.
Why is that?
Do you really want Nana to live with you?

A secure place for delivery of goods

Bezos has the delivery thing down.
I fully expect to be able to get almost anything to my door.
Above is a joke. Come on---
How to get it inside securely???
How to keep it cold if I am, gasp, out playing cards with my friends.





Thursday, May 23, 2019

Starting at 65

My mother turns 89 this year.
Her sisters are 90 and 92.
They all had lives filled with children, grandchildren, husbands, birthday parties, tennis, gardening and various "committee work." Only the middle one worked after marriage---and that was to help make ends meet after her husband died almost twenty years ago. 
They had one sister who died at 60 
and their older brother died at 86.

What does that mean to me?
Once I hit 65 my chances to living to 100 are pretty good. 

That means I have the time to start again.
Moving to Idaho

How about opening a senior travel company?
Budget, senior friendly travel is coming of age.
The "old" agents make good money off of 
the really rich.
How about us, who just want a slow travel 
with bumpers?
We have traveled much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Something to just keep me sharp.
Don't get me wrong
I love the freedom of just being
and learning 
and enjoying
but is it time for an encore?
I have about 25 years to go!

Monday, May 20, 2019

Building a house for 2030.

House plans
How many books does one need?
Books- almost humorous that we have books
when planning a future house.

This house will be in COLD Idaho.
It will be about an hour from the entrance of Yellowstone.
In the beginning, it will be off the beaten path.
I doubt it will stay that way.
My understanding is that much of No Calif is moving to Idaho.

Here is the base.


We have wants and needs.
Needs:
1) All doors outside of the guest bedroom wing will slide.
2) Dedicated media room
for computers, movies (and robot storage).
3)The back of the house facing south/ southeast.
4)  A dedicated space for a battery pack wall.
5) Every area of the non guest room house
will be wide enough for a wheel chair.
6) No stairs. Foundation ramp put in at build.
7) Large master shower/ zero entry
8) Screened in back porch.
9) All wood or tile floors
10) Natural Gas and/or propane for heat and cooking
11) Top of the line wiring as available for that area.

Wants:
1) a solar roof tiles
2) wood stove
3) Exterior hot tub
4) reclining tub in guest bath
5) Rollanden shutters on great windows
6) Double drawer dishwasher

What else do you think we should want or need?

Sunday, May 19, 2019

House building

Twenty-five  years ago we built a house for us in Flagstaff Arizona.
We purchased 5 acres,
put in a well and septic,
looked at logs
and built a dream house.


It looked at the peaks and
had four bedrooms- two with walk out porches.
The house was lovely.
We built it three years before we moved into it.
Most of the work was done while we were
living in Hong Kong.
A sole contractor took it on. He was a blessing.

My parents thought that we were insane.
Maybe we were.
Purchased rugs the size of rooms.
Amazing house.

We traveled "home" to "retire" after the bombing in Saudi.
Our children settled into school.
We spent about the same amount of time with my family
as we did when we lived 2500 miles away.
But the house was magnificent.

Property taxes, electricity, staining logs and decks,
water and country roads all became issues
in the ten years that we were there.
There was also the problem of meaningful underemployment.

And so we sold and moved to better employment
.
Ironically, the TV show Sister Wives
just bought land about a block from this house
which would have made it insane.

We moved to Kansas- great employment, nice people, house was too big.
Then to Delaware- closer to grands, great house, GREEN!
But now a four year plan is moving into place.



Moving- what does that mean?

Our house is the place we live,
Our home is where we are.

We moved to the East to be close to our children 
as they had children.
The families are complete and they are growing.
In four years all of these people will be in school.
Yes, children need grandparents when they are in school,
but the need is less pressing 
and more vacation time planted.
We live too far away to be of use for occasional care.
Funny that a fellow blogging friend 
just posted on it being rather selfish to move.
People come to depend on you.
Hummmm. 


Last year we began to search.
My husband has put up with so many of my schemes.
He just wants to die in the West. 
The East is beautiful in its own way, but the attitude is different.
We are holding on, but if I see one more chicken house put up near a water source
AGGGG! 
The care for the land is SO different.

Last year we headed West to look for land-
lots of land
wide open land.
Wyoming is beautiful
It is really remote.
The place my husband is interested in
has billionaires 
and Reservation poverty.
I just cannot do that again.
We also agreed that at 75 he would not be able to care for 100 acres.
Whew. 

This September we are headed for Idaho. Small town Idaho
My husband grew up in Idaho Falls.
It has grown too large for him
We will be looking a bit north of there.

A four year plan has commenced.
We will buy land this year
build an outbuilding next year
and a house the year after.
We will spend the winter there the fourth year
(yes, I know, people LEAVE Idaho in the winter)
and move entirely the year my son's family moves out of the area here. 

Everyone will be in school.
The West has always been home in our hearts.
I guess we are, finally, going home.