As related in an earlier post, I’ve moved 29 times in the past 50 years. Some of those moves were involuntary (various childhood moves), many were because I preferred to be within a short distance of work, and some were economically motivated.
The recent move was economic. My wife and I managed to sell our Florida home despite the downturn in the housing market. Even more spectacular, we got our asking price and managed to net a decent amount.
We decided that the best thing to do was rent while we waited for the market to bottom out, use the time to add to the war chest and then purchase something that would be income producing – be it apartments, multi-family dwelling, whatever. (Or purchase something that could be turned into an income producing property.) Karen has two adult sons, either or both of which have expressed an interest in either going in on the buy or renting from us when the deal is done.
So, when we had an opportunity to move down the block, save $300 a month and live in a house that Karen is happier with…
This picture shows the house as well as its historical marker. We’re living in a home that was built in 1782 – Two Hundred and Twenty-Six years ago. Talk about OLD…
The War of Independence would not conclude for another year when whoever built this home moved in. There’s a small historical society and town museum behind the brick building shown in the image and (when they’re open) I’ll spend a little time finding out what they can tell me about this place.
The landlord, and old paintball friend of mine, informs me that the house has ‘plenty of positive energy’. Whatever that means.
The building across the street that’ also shown in the picture was built some fifty years later in 1832. There’s a nice Italian eatery (that’s in the process of becoming a chain) downstairs and apartments upstairs. That’s the kind of building the wife and I would like to purchase.
Below are the denizens of this new home. On the left is Karen (who’s just ordered a new laptop for herself and is grinning with delight) and Bo, the most intelligent dog I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. Bo learns by example and demonstration – not by ‘training’. He has an enormous vocabulary, including ‘left’, ‘right’ and ’straight’, ‘rat’, ‘ball’, ’snake’, ‘blue’, ‘red’, ‘baseball’, ‘tennis ball’, ‘rabbit’, ‘bed’, ‘hump’, all of the usual ‘doggie’ words and the cat’s name. I swear he can even count.
On the right is Stimpy. Stimpy is 19 years old (Bo is 2) and has lived with Karen nearly four times as long as I have. He’s in remarkably good shape for such a geriatric cat. His expression in this picture says it all – he’s at the top of the steps and won’t have anything to do with that upstart whippersnapper that’s barking downstairs.
